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/
THE GENERAL
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
A NEW EDITION.
VOL. XXI.
» :
» .
; /
*. #
Printed by Nichols, Son, and Bentlby,
Red Lion Postage, Fleet Street, London.
THE GENERAL
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY:
CONTAINING
AN HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL ACCOUNT
OF THE
LIVES AND WRITINGS
OF THE
MOST EMINENT PERSONS
IN EVERY NATION;
PARTICULARLY THE BRITISH AND IRISH;
FROM THE EARLIEST ACCOUNTS TO THE PRESENT TIME.
A NEW EDITION,
REVISED AND ENLARGED BY.
ALEXANDER CHALMERS, F. S. A.
VOL. XXI.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. NICHOL8 AND SON ; F. C. AND J. RIV1NGTON ; T. PAYNE \
OTR1DGE AND SON ; G, AND W. NICOL ; G. WILKIE $ J. WALKER $ R. LEA ;
W.LOWNDES; WHITE, COCHRANE, AND CO.; T. EGERTON; LACKINGTON,
ALLEN, AND CO.; J. CARPENTER; LONGMAN, HURST, RER8, ORME, AND
BROWN; CADELL AND DAV1ES ; C. LAW; J. BOOKER; J. CUTHELL; CLARKE
AND SONS; J. AND A. ARCH; J.HARRIS; BLACK, PARRY, AND CO. ; J. BOOTH ;
J. MAWMAN; GALE, CURTIS, AND FENNER; R. H. EVANS; J. HATCHARDj
J.MURRAY; R. BALDWIN; CRADOCK AND JOY ; E. BENTLEY ; J. FAULDER ;
OGLE AND CO.; W. GINGER; J. DEIGHTON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE; CONSTABLE
AND CO. EDINBURGH; AND WILSON AND SON, YORK.
1815.
A NEW AND GENERAL
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
JLiUXEMBOURG (Francis Henry de Montmorenci,
DffKE of), a very celebrated general and mareschal of
France* was a posthumous son of the famous Bouteville,
who was beheaded under Louis XIII. for fighting a duel.
He was born in 1628, and in 1643 was present at the battle
of Rocroi, under the great Cond6, whose pupil he was,
and whom he followed in all his fortunes. He also re-
sembled that great man in many of hia eminent qualities,
in acuteness of perception, thirsfyfor knowledge, prompt-
ness in action, and ardour of gejjius. Tfhese qualities he
displayed in the conquest of Frat^e>6oipt£ in 1668, where
he served as lieutenant-general, ^e^eryed also in the
Dutch campaign of 1672, took many towns, and gained
some trophies in the field. He closed this expedition by
a retreat more famous than bis victories, which be accom-
plished with an army of 20,000 men, against the opposition
of 70,000. After distinguishing himself in another expe-
dition in Fran che- Com ti, he was advanced, in 1675, to
the dignity of mareschal of France. He fought, during
the remainder of that war, with various success. In the
second war of Louis XIVr against the allied powers in
1 690, he gained the battle of Fleurus, and it was gene**
rally allowed that he prevailed in it chiefly by the supe-
riority of his genius to that of his antagonist the prince of
Waldeck* In the ensuing year, 1691, he gained the.
battles of Leufen and Steinkirk; and, continuing to be op-
posed to king William of England, he was again success-
ful, in the bloody battle of Nerwinde, where there fell on
die two sides near 20,000 men. It was said in France,
that on this occasion they should not sing Te Deum, but
Vol. XXI. B
3 LUXEMBOURG^
l)e prqfundis, the mass for the dead. — The duke of Luxem-
bourg is said to have had an ordinary countenance and a
deformed figure, in consequence of which William UK
whose constant antagonist be was, is reported to have said
once with some impatience, " What ! shall I never beat
this hump-backed fellow ?" This speech being repeated to
the duke, " How should he know," said he, " the shape
of my back ? I am sure he never saw me turn it to him."
The last great action of the duke's life was a second famous
retreat, in the presence of superior forces, through a con-
siderable extent of country, to Tournay. This was in
1694, and he died the following year, Jan. 4, at the age
of sixty-seven. Notwithstanding the disadvantages of his
person, Luxembourg is said to have been much involved
in intrigues of gallantry. He had some powerful enemies,
particularly the minister Louvois, who once had him con-
fined very unjustly in the Bastille. Among other frivolous
calumnies on which he was then interrogated, he wa& asked
whether he had not made a league with the devil, to marry
his son to the daughter of the marquis de Louvois. His
answer was replete with the high spirit of French nobility.
*' When Matthew of Montmorenci," said he, <c married a
queen of France, he addressed himself, not tb the devil,
but to the states- general ; and the declaration of the states
was, that in order to gain the support of the house of
Montmorenci for the young king in his minority, it would
be right to conclude that marriage." Idle as the accusa-
tions against him were, they cost him a confinement of
fourteen months, and he had no subsequent redress.1
LYGOPHRON, a Greek poet and grammarian, was a
native of Chalcis, in Euboea, and according to Ovid, was
killed by a shot with an arrow. He flourished about 304
years before Christ, and wrote a poem entitled " Alex-
andra/9 or Cassandra, containing a long course of predic-
tions, which he supposes to be made by Cassandra, daugh-
ter of Priam, king of Troy. This poem has created a great
deal of trouble to the learned, on account of its obscurity,
which procured him the title of " the tenebrous poet."
Suidas has preserved the titles of twenty tragedies of his
composing ; and he is reckoned in the number of the poets
who were called the Pleiades, and who flourished under
Ptoletoy Philadelphus, king of Egypt. The best edition
>'. ■ *.'■"•
1 Mtoreri.— Diet. Ifot— -Perrault's Les Homines Wustres.
LYC OP HttOK. $
>
of " Lyco^hron,'* is that at Oxford, 1 697, by' Dr. (adfe*.
wards archbishop) Potter; re-printed there in 1701, folia.
A few years ago, the rev. Henry Meen, B. D. published
"Remarks" on the " Cassandra," which' are highly judi-
cious, and his conjectures in illustration of the obscurities
of Lycophron, plausible and happy.1
LYCURGUS, the celebrated lawgiver of Sparta, flou-
rished, according to the most judicious modfcrn chrorio*
logers, about 898 years before the Christian aera. Plutarch
seems to. think that he was the fifth in descent from Pfocles,
and the tenth from Hercules. When the sceptre' devolved
to him by the death of his brother Polydectes, the widow
of that prince was pregnant. He was no sooner assured of
this, than he determined to hold the sovereign power irt
trust only, in case the child should prove a son, and took
the title of Prodicus or Protector, instead of that of kingj
It is added, that he had the virtue to resist the offers of
the queen, who would have married him, with the dread-*
fill promise that no son sk&uld be born to intercept his views.
A son at length was born, and publicly presented by Kim ,
to the people, from whose joy on the occasion he named
the infant Charilaus, i. e. the people's joy. Lycurgus was
at this time a young man, and the state of Sparta was too
turbulent and licentious for him to introduce any system
of regulation, without being armed with some more ex-
press authority. How long he continued to administer the'
government is uncertain ; probably till his nephew was of age
to take it into his own hands. After resigning it, however,
he did not long remain in Sparta, but went as a traveller to
visit other countries and study their laws, particularly those
of Crete, which were highly renowned for their excellence^
and had been instituted by Rhadamanthus and Minos, two
illustrious legislators, who pretended to have received their
laws from Jupiter. Lycurgus passed some years in this
useful employment, but he had left behind him such a re-
putation for wisdom and justice, that when the corruption
and confusion of the state became intolerable, he was re-
called by a public invitation1 to assume the quality of legis-
lator, and to new model the government.
Lycurgus willingly returned to undertake the task thus
devolved upon him, and, having obtained, aft£r ' various?'
difficulties,' the co-operation of the kings, and of the
1 Sazii Onomastieon.— Gen. Diet. — Moreri.— Month. Rev. N. S. vol. XXXV 1 1.
B 2
L Y C U R GU S.
various orders of the people, he formed that extraordinary
system of government which Las been the wonder of aU
subsequent ages, tut which has been too much detailed by
various authors, for us to enter into the particulars. When
with invincible courage, unwearied perseverance, and a
judgment and penetration still more extraordinary, he had
formed and executed the most singular plan that ever was
devised, he waited for a time to see his great machine in
motion ; and finding it proceed to his wish, he had now no
other object but to secure its duration. For this purpose
he convened the kings, senate, and people, told them that
be wished to* visit Delphi, to consult the oracle on the
constitution he had formed, and engaged them alt to bind
themselves by a most solemn oath, that nothing should be
altered before bis return. The approbation of the oracle
he received, but he returned no more, being determined
to bind his countrymen indissolubly to the observance of
bis laws, and thinking bis life, according to the enthu-
siastic patriotism of those time*, a small sacrifice to secure
the welfare of his country. Different accounts are given
of the place and manner of bis death. According to some
authors, he died by voluntary abstinence. One tradition
says, that he lived to a good old age in Crete, and dying a
natural death, his body was burned, according to the prac-
tice of the age, and his relics, pursuant to his own re-
quest, scattered in the sea; lest if his bones or ashes had
ever been carried to Sparta, the Lacedaemonians might
have thought themselves free from the obligation of their
oath, to preserve his laws unaltered. He is supposed to
have died after the year 873 B. C. His laws were abro-
gated by Philopaemen in the year 188 B. C. but the Ro-
mans very soon re-established them.1
LYCURGUS, an Athenian orator, contemporary with
Demosthenes, was born about 403 years before the Christ
tian sera, and died about or after 328. He was an Athe-
nian, and the son of a person named Lycopbron. He stu-
died philosophy under Plato, and rhetoric under Isocrates.*
He was of the most exalted character for integrity, in,
which he was severely scrupulous ; a strenuous defender
of liberty, a perpetual oppose? of Philip and Alexander,
add a firm friend of Demosthenes. As a magistrate, he
»
'* Mitford's History of Greece— Mbrcti.— Gen. Diet.-— Saxir OnottuuW— -
ffetyreh in oil life.
LYCURGUS. *
proceeded with severity against criminals, but kept a regis-
ter of all bis proceedings, which, on quitting bis office, be
submitted to public inspection. When he was about to
die, be publicly offered his actions to examination, and
refuted the only accuser who appeared against him. He
was one of the thirty orators whom the Athenians refused
to give up to Alexander. One oration of his, against Leo-
crates, is still extant, and has been published in the col-
lections of Aldus, Taylor, and Reiske. His eloquence par-
took of the manly severity and truth of bis character.1
LYDGATE (John), an ancient English poet, is recorded
as one of the immediate successors of Chaucer. ' The few
dates that have been recovered of his history are, that be
was ordained a sub-deacon in 1389 ; a deacon in 1393, and
a priest iiv 1397 ; from these it has been surmised that he
was born about 1375, that is, twenty-five years before the
death of Chaucer. There is a note of Wan ley's in the
Harieian Catalogue (2251. 3.) which insinuates as if Lyd-
gate did not die till 1482. This Dr. Percy thinks too long
a date ; he was, however, living in 1446, since in his " Phi-
lomela" he mentions the death of Henry duke of Warwick,
who died that year. Some authorities place his deatb in
1461, and this date Mr. Ellis' thinks is not improbable.
He was, says Warton, who of all our modern critics hat
considered him with most attention, a monk of the Bene-
dictine abbey of Bury in Suffolk. After a short education
at Oxford* be travelled into France and Italy ; and returned
a complete master of the language and the literature of
both countries. He chiefly studied the Italian and French
poets, particularly Dante, Boccaccio, and Alain Chartier;
and became so distinguished a proficient in polite learning,
that he opened a school in his monastery, for teaching the
sons of the nobility the arts of versification, and the ele-
gancies of composition. Yet, although philology was his
object, be was not unfamiliar with the fashionable philo-
sophy : he was not only a poet and a rhetorician, but a
geometriciau, an astronomer, a theologist, and a disputant.;
Mr. Warton is of opinion that he made considerable addi-
tions to those amplifications of our language, in which
Chaucer, <Jower, and Hoccleve, led the way ; and that
be is the first of our writers whose style is clothed with that
\ 7at>r. BibI, Grac.— Moreri.
6 LYDQATE.
perspicuity in1 which the English phraseology appears at
this day to an English reader.
Lydgate's pieces are very numerous. Ritson has given
a list of two hundred and fifty-one, some of which he ad-
mits may not be Lydgate's, but he supposes, on the other
hand, that he may be the author of many others that are
anonymous. His most esteemed works are his " Story of
Thebes," his " Fall of Princes," and bis " History, Siege,
and Destruction of Troy." The first is printed by Spegbt
in his edition of Chaucer ; the second, the " Fall of
Prinzes," or " Boke of Johan Bochas," ,(first printed by
Pinson in 1494, and several times since,) is a translation
from Boccaccio, or rather from a French paraphrase of his
work " De casibus Virorum et Feminarum illustrium." The
" History, &c. of Troy" was first printed by Pinsoo in*
1513, but more correctly by Marshe in 1555., This was
once the most popular of his works, and the inquisitive
reader will find much curious information in it, although
he may not be able to discover such poetical beauties as
can justify its original popularity. That popularity was,
indeed, says Mr. Ellis, excessive and unbounded; and'it
continued without much diminution during, at least, two
Centuries. To this the praises of succeeding writers, bear
ample testimony : but it is confirmed by a most direct and
singular evidence. An anonymous writer has taken the
pains to modernize the entire poem, consisting of about
28*000 verses, to change the. ancient context, and almost
every rhyme* and to throw the whole into six-line stanzas ;
and after all he published it with the name of Lydgate,
under the title of "The Life and Death of Hector," 1614,
folio, printed by Thomas Purfoot. — Of the general merits
of Lydgate, Wartbn hag spoken very favourably ; Percy,
Ritson, and Pinkerton, with contempt ; and Mr. Ellis with
the caution of a man of correct taste and judgment.1
LYPIAT (Thomas), an eminent English scholar, was
born at Alkrington or Okerton, near Banbury in Oxford-
shire, in 1572. His father, observing his natural talents,
sent him to Winchester school, where he was admitted a
scholar on the foundation, at thirteen ; and, being elected*
thence to New-college in Oxford, was put under the tuition*
of Dr. (afterwards sir) Henry Martin, who became so well
1 Warton's History of Poetry, — Ellis's Specimens. — Ritson's B.ibliographia.
—MS note in Percy's copy of Winstaoley. — Phillips's Theatrum/' by sir E.
Brydgefi.— Censura Literaria, vol. VII.
L Y D I A T. 7
known during the rebellion. Mr. Lydiat was made proba-
tioner fellow in 1591, and two years after, actual fellow.
Then taking his degree in arts, he applied himself to
astronomy, mathematics, and divinity, in the last of which
studies he was very desirous of continuing ; but, finding a
great defect in his memory and utterance, he chose rather
to resign his fellowship, which he could not hold without
entering the church, and live upon his small patrimony.
This was in 1603 ; and he spent seven years after in finish-
ing and printing such books as he had begun when in col-
lege. He first appeared as an author in 1605, by pub-
lishing his " Tractatus de variis annorum formis." Of this
he published a defence in 1607, against the censures of
Joseph Scaliger, whom he more directly attacked in his
" Emendatio Temporum ab initio mundi hue usque com-
pendio facta, contra Scaligerum et alios," 1609. This he
dedicated to prince Henry, eldest son of James I. He
was chronographer and cosmographer to that prince, who
had a great respect for him, and, had he lived, would cer-
tainly have made a provision for him. , In 1609, he became
acquainted with Dr. Usher, afterwards archbishop of Ar<-
magh, who took him into Ireland, and placed him in the
college at Dublin, where he continued two years; ant)
then purposing to return to England, the lord-deputy and
chancellor of. Ireland n>ade him, at his request, a joint
promise of a competent support, upon his coming back
thither. This appears to have been the mastership of the
school at Armagh, endowed with 50/. per annum in laud.
When he came to England, which appears to have been
in 1611, he is supposed to have been married, and to
Usher's sister; but for either supposition there seems very
little foundation. Soon after his return, however, the
rectory of Okerton becoming void, was offered to him $
and though, while he was fellow of New-college, he had
refused the offer of it by his father, who was the patron,
yet he now accepted it, and was instituted in 1612. Here
he seems to have lived happily for many years : but being
imprudently security for the debts of a near relation, which
lie was unable to pay, he was successively imprisoned at
Oxford, the KingVbench, and elsewhere, in 1629, or
1630, and remained a prisoner till sir William Bos well, a
great patron of learned men, joining with Dr. Pink, war*
den of New-college, and Dr. Usher, paid the debt, and
released him; and archbishop Laud also, at. the request of
S L YD U T.
sir Henry Martin, gave his assistance on this occasion *.
He bad no sootier got bis liberty, tban, out of aa ardent
zeal to promote literature and the honour of bis GouiHry,
he petitioned Charles I. for bis protection and encourage*
j&ent to travel into Turkey, Ethiopia, and tbe Abyssiriian
empire, in search of manuscripts relating to civil or eccle-
siastical history, or any other branch of learning, and to
print them in England. For the farther advancement of
this design, be also requested the king would apply, by
his ambassadors and ministers, to such princes as were in
alliance with him, for a similar privilege to be granted to
Lydiat and his assigns : this was a spirited design, but it
was impossible for the king at that unhappy period to pay
attention to it
This disappointment, however, did not diminish his
loyalty, and ou that account he was a great sufferer during
the rebellion. He was a man of undaunted mind, ana
talked frequently and warmly in behalf both of the king
and the bishops, refused to comply with the demands of
money made upon him by the parliament army, and with
great personal courage defended his books and papers
against their attempts to seize them, For these offences
Jie was four times plundered by some troops of the parlia^
xnent, at Compton-house in Warwickshire* to the value of
at least 70/# ; was twice carried away from his house at
Okerton ; once to Warwick, and another time to Banbury $
he was treated infamously hy the soldiers, and so muctl
debarred from decent necessaries, that he could have up
change of linen for a considerable time, without borrowing
from some charitable person. At length, after be had
lived at his parsonage several year?, in indigence and ob-
scurity, he died April 3, 1646, and was interred the next
day in the chancel of Okerton church, which bad been
rebuilt by him. .A stone was laid over his grave in 1669,
by tbe society of New-college, who also erected an hono-
rary monument, with an inscription to his memory, in the
cloister of their college.
In bis person he was low in stature, and of mean appear-
ance. In tbe matter of church discipline and ceremonies
he is said to have thought with the non- conformists, but
* In 1633, be wrote a defence, of lease* This may be given as a proof
Laud's setting up altars in churches, that what is afterwards reported of hfa
and dedicated it to him, in gratitude ipn-cojifoflttftty haw Very little fouada/-
fer bis assistance in procuring his. re- lion.
L Y D 1 A T. 9
not enough, it would appear, to gain their protection.
$Je wis, however, highly esteemed by his learned coo*
temporaries, particularly primate Usher, air Adam New-
ton, secretary, and sir Thomas Chailon4r, chamberlain to
prince Henry, Dr. J. Bainbridge, Mr. Henry Briggg, Dr.
Peter Tomer, and other* : and some foreigners did not
scruple to rank him with Mr. Joseph Mede, and even with
lord Bacon. Yet the memory of this learned man was not
of long duration, for when his misfortunes were alluded to
by Dr. Johnson in his " Vanity of Human Wishes/' in
jthese lines, .
*r If dreams yet flatter, once again attend 9
Hear.Lydiat's life, and Galileo's end:"
it was a subject of inquiry, who Lydiat was ?
' The following is, we believe, a correct list of his works,
including those already mentioned. 1. " Tractatus de
varii* anhorum formis," 1605, 8vo. 2. " Praelectio astro-
ttotnica de natura cceli & cbuditionibus eleuientoru'm.1*
3. v Disqnisitio physiologica de origirte fontium." These
two ate printed with the first 4. " Defensio tractatus de
varifs annorum formis, contra Jos. Scaligeri obtrectatio-
nem/* 1 $07, Uvo. 5. " Examen canonum chronologic
i&gogicorum," printed with the " Defensio." 6. " Eoien-
datio iemporum, &c. contra Scaligerum & alios," 1609,
Svo. 7. ** Explicatip & additamentum argumentorum in
libello emendationis temporum compendio facta de nati~
ritate Christi, & ministerii in terris," 1613, 8vo. 8. " SolU
& lunsB periodus sell annus magnus," 163d, 8vo, &c.
9. " De anui Solaris mensura epistola astronomical &c«
1621, 3vo. 10. " Numtfrus aureus, melioribus lapillis in-
signitus," &c. 1621 ; a single large sheet on one side.
11. « Canones chronologic^ &c. 1675, 8vo. 12. " Let-^
ters to Dr. James Usher, primate of Ireland/' printed in
the Appendix of his life by Dr. Parr. 13. " Marmoreum
chronicum Arundelianum, cum Annotationibus," printed
in the " Marmora Oxoniensia," by Humphrey Prideauic
He also left twenty-two manuscripts, two of which were
written in Hebrew, in the hands of Dr. John Lamphire.1
V LYE (Edward), a learned linguist and antiquary, the
•*nth6r of an excellent dictionary of the Saxon and Gothic
languages, was born at Totnes in Devonshire, in 1 704.
•
} Geo. Ptet*»4io0. Brit.-^th, Q<. toM I. —Fuller's Worthies.— UsW*
Life aad Letter*. r
10 LYE.
He virajs educated partly at home, under his father, who
kept a school at Totnes, partly under other preceptors,
but chiefly (being obliged to return home from consump-
tive complaints) by his own private care and application.
At the age of nineteen, he was admitted at Hart hall (now
Hertford college) in Oxford, took his bachelor's degree in
1716, was ordained deacon in 1717, and priest in 1719,
soon after which he was presented to the living of Hough -
ton-parva in Northamptonshire. In this retreat he laid the
foundation of his great proficiency in the Anglo-Saxon
language. He became master of arts in 1722.
Having now qualified himself completely for a work of
that nature, he undertook the arduous task of publishing
the " Etymologicum Anglicanum" of Francis Junius, from
the manuscript of the author in the Bodleian Library. To
this undertaking he was led, as he tells us in his preface,
by the commendations which Hickes and other learned
antiquaries had given to that unpublished work. In the
seventh year from the commencement of his design, he
published the work, with many additions, and particularly
that of an Anglo-Saxon Grammar prefixed. The work
was received with the utmost approbation of the learned.
In 1750, Mr. Lye became a* member of the society of an-*
tiquaries, and about the same time was presented by the
earl of Northampton to the vicarage of Yardley Hastings,
on which accession be resigned his former living of Hough*
ton ; giving an illustrious example of primitive moderation,
especially as he had hitherto supported his mother, and
had still two sisters dependent upon him. The next pub-
lication which he issued, was that of the Gothic Gospels,
undertaken at the desire of Eric Benzelius, bishop of
Upsal, who had collated and corrected them. This, which
he had been long preparing, appeared from the Oxford
press in the same year, with a Gothic Grammar prefixed*
His last years were employed chiefly in finishing for the
press his own great work, the Anglo-Saxon and Gothic
Dictionary, which was destined to owe that to another
editor, which he had performed for Junius. His manu?
script was just completed, and given to the printer, when
he died at Yardley Hastings, in 1767; and was there
buried, with a commendatory but just and ejegarjt epitaph*
His Dictionary was published in 1772, in two volumes folio,
by the rev. Owen Manning, with a grammar of th6 two
languages united, and some memoirs of the author, from
LYE. 11
which this account is taken. It appears by some original
correspondence between Mr. Lye and Dr. Ducarel (for the
perusal of which we are indebted to Mr. Nichols), that Mr.'
Lye bad been employed on his dictionary a long tinte before
1765, and that he had almost relinquished the design from
a dread of the labour and expence. In the labour he had
none to share with him, but at the time above mentioned
archbishop Seeker offered him a subscription of 50/. to
forward the work, and he appears to have hoped for similar
instances of liberality. l
LYFORD (William), a pious clergyman of the seven-
teenth century, was born about 1598, at Peysmere, near
Newbury in Berkshire, of which place his father was rec-
tor. Iu 1614 he became a commoner of Magdalen hall,
Oxford, and a demy of Magdalen college in 1617. In
1622 he took1 his degree of M. A. and was then chosen a
fellow. In 1631 he was admitted to the reading of the
sentences, and, having taken orders, was presented to
the living of Shirburne, in Dorsetshire, by John Earl of
Bristol. Here, says Wood, " he was very much resorted
to for his edifying and practical way of preaching;" and
appears indeed to have deserved the affections of his
flock,, by the most constant diligence in discharging the
duties of his office. He divided his day into the following
portions : nine hours for study, three for visits and con-
ferences with his parishioners, three for prayers and devo-
tion, two for his affairs, and the rest for his refreshment. He
divided likewise his estate into three parts, one for the use
of his family, one for a reserve in case of future wants,
and one for pious uses. His parish he divided into twenty-
eight parts, to be visited in twenty -eight days every month,
" leaving," says one of his biographers, " knowledge wher£
he found ignorance, justice where he found oppression,
peace where he found contention, and order where . be
found irregularity." -
A man of this disposition was not likely to add to die
turbulence of the times ; and although he is said to have
inclined to the presbyterian party, and was chosen one of
the assembly of divines, he never sat among them, but
remained on his living, employed in preaching, catechizing,
&c. until his death, Oct 3, 1653. Fuller and Wood unite
in* their praises of Mr. Lyford's character, and in their
t Meitooirt as above.— MS belters in Mr. Nichols's possession*
12 L Y F O R D.
opinion of bis writings, wbicb, says Wood, " savour much
of piety, zeal, and sincerity, but shew him to have been a
sealous Calvinist." Dr. Walker informs us that " be suf-
fered much from the faction, both in his name and mi-
nistry, and they wondered that so holy a man as h$ was,
should doat so much on. kings, bishops, the common prayer,
and ceremonies." He bequeathed the sum of 120/. to
Magdalen college " in gratitude for the advantages which
be bad there enjoyed, and in restitution for a sum of money,
which, according to the corrupt custom of those times, he
had received for the resignation of his fellowship."
Although he took no active part in the disputed of the
nation, he gave bis opinion on some subjects Arising out
of tbem, respecting toleration, in a work entitled " Causes
of conscience propounded in the time of Rebellion,"
which bisbop Rennet in bis "Chronicle?' says, is written
with plainness, .modesty, and impartiality. His other works
are, 1. "Principles of Faith and of a good Conscience,"
Lond. 1642 ; Oxford, 1652; 8vo. 2. " An Apology for our
public Ministry and infant Baptism," ibid. 1652, 1653,.
4to. 3* " The plain roan's senses exercised to discern
both good and evil ; or a discovery of the errors, heresies,
and blasphemies of these times, ibid. 1655, 4to, with
sonne other pious tracts.1
LYLLY. See LILLY.
LYNAR (Rochus . Frederic Count), a Danish states-
man and scholar, was descended from an ancient family, a
branch of the counts of Guerini, in the dukedom of Tus-
cany, which had settled in Germany* He was bom in
1708, at the castle of Lubbenau, and educated at Jena and
Halle, at both which places he applied with the utmost
assiduity to the Greek and Latin languages, and even to
theology. After travelling in various parts of Europe, and
visiting England in 1732, he obtained an appointment at
the court of Denmark ; but, being ambitious of a more
public station, he volunteered his services in the home and
foreign department, and displayed so much, activity that
he was dispatched by Christian VI. to East Friezland* to
settle the affairs of the dowager princess, Sophia Caroline,
sister to the queen. This mission be discharged to the
satisfaction of hjs sovereign; and was appointed it) 1735
ambassador extraordinary to the court of Stockholm, where;
» Ath.Ox. vol. Ih— Fuller's Woithies.— Lloyd's Memoir*. f»l. p. 6(fl.—
W*ikcrV Sufferings of the Clergy,
L Y N A R. 13
« *
•hfc itstded until- 1740. On hi* return to Denmark the
king conferred on him an office in Holstein, and a few
year* after be was sent as ambassador extraordinary to Pe-
tersburgb. On his return in 1752 he was appointed go*
vernor of the counties of OHenburgh and Delchanhorst, to
which he Retired with bis family, and where he spent hit
time in the composition of literary worlcs, the first of which*
a translation of " Seneca de Beneficils," with excellent
notes^ was printed in 1753. Having renewed the study of
the Greek language while at Oldenburgh, he made so much
progress, that by comparing the best commentators he was
enabled to write a good paraphrase on " The- Epistles of
St. Paul,1' Ice. which was afterwards published. He wrote
also several moral essays. . *
In 1757 be bad an opportunity again of rendering him*
self conspicuous in a political capacity, by the part which
be took in the famous convention of Closter- seven, en-
tered into between the duke of Richelieu, commander of
the French forces, and the duke of Cumberland, who waa
then at the head of the allied army. In this, however,, ho
met with many difficulties, as the history ofthat conventions
shows ■;• and the king of France and his Britannic majesty
at last refused their ratification. In March 1763 he was*
invested with the order of the elephant by Frederic V. the
highest honour his sovereign could bestow; but some
complaints being made against him on account of his ad-
ministration, which were not altogether groundless, be
resigned in Oct 1765. The remainder of his life he passed,
in retirement at Lubennau, where he died of a dropsy of
the breast, Nov. 1781, in the seventy- third year of his
age* He was a man of considerable learning, elegant ad-,
dress, * and' various accomplishments; His works . are, 1 .
A translation of" Seneca de Beneficiis," Hamburgh, 1753,
8vo. 2. A translation of Seneca on "The Shortness of
Life," 1754. 3."Der Sonderling," or "The Singular
Mao," Hanover, 1761, 8 vo, and in French, Copenhagen,
17=77, 8vo, a work, which, according to his biographer
Btt8cbifrg, is well worth a perusal* 4. "Historical, Po-
litical and Moral Miscellanies," in four parts, 1775—1777,
8*0." 5, Paraphrases on "The Epistles,"* printed at va-
rious times, 1754 — 1770. 6. " The real ftate of Europe
in the year 1737," and. several other articles in Busching's
Magazine for History and Geography. \
\ Atbeoaeam, vol. III.
14 1YN0E.
LYNDE (Sir Humphrey), a learned English gentle-
man, was descended from a family in Dorsetshire, and born
in 1579. Being sent to Westminster school, he was ad-
mitted scholar upon the foundation, and thence elected
student of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1596. Four years
afterwards he commenced B. A. about which time he be-
came heir to ^considerable estate, was made a justice of
peace, and knighted by king James in 1613* He obtained
a seat in the House of Commons in several parliaments; but
he is entitled to a place in this work as a man of learning*
and author of several books, which had considerable re-
putation in their day. He died June 14, 1636,; and was
interred in the chancel of the church at Cobbaoi in Surrey.
Tbe night before he died, being exhorted by a friend to
give some testimony of his constancy in the reformed re-
ligion, because it was not unlikely that his adversaries
might say of him, as they did of fieza, Reynolds, King
bishop of London, and bishop Andrews, that they recanted
the protestant religion, and were reconciled to the church
of Rome before their death ; he professed, that if he had a
thousand souls, he would pawn them all upon the truth of
that religion established by law in the church of England*
and which he had declared and maintained in his " Via
tut£" * Accordingly, in his funeral sermon by Dr. Daniel
Featly, he is not only styled " a general scholar, an ac-
complished gentleman, a gracious Christian, a zealous pa-
triotr and an able champion for truth;9' but "one that
stood always as well for the discipline, as the doctrine of
the church of JEngland ; and whose actions, as well as writ-
ings, were conformable both to the laws of God and canons
and constitutions of that church." - .-
His works are, 1. " Ancient characters of the visible
Church, 1625." 2. "Via tuta, the safe way, &c." re-
printed several times, and translated into Latin, Dutch*
and French, printed at Paris, 1647, from the sixth edition
published in 1636, !2mo, under the title of " Popery con-
futed by Papists," &c. 3. " Via devia, the by-way," &c.
1630 and 1632, 8vo. 4. (( A Case for the Spectacles;
or, a Defence of the Via tuta," in answer to a book written
by J. R. called "A pair of Spectacles," &c. with a supple-
ment in vindication of sir Humphrey, by the publisher,
Dr. Daniel Featly. A book entitled " A pair of Spectacles
for sir Humphrey Lynde," was printed at Roan, 1631, in
8vo, by Robert Jenison, or Frevili a Jesuit. 5. "An
IYND E.. 15
account of Bertram, with observation* concerning the cen-
sures upon his Tract De corpore et sanguine Christi,"
prefixed to an edition of it at London, 1623, 8vo, and re-
printed there in 1686, 8vo, by Dr. Matthew Brian.1
LYONET (Peter), an eminent naturalist, was born at
Maestricht July 22, 1707. He was of a French family,
originally of Lorraine, whence they were obliged to take
refuge in Switzerland, on account of their religion. His
father, Benjamin Lyonet, was a protestant minister at Heuf-
ion. In his early years he displayed uncommon activity
both of body and mind, with a memory so prompt, that he .
acquired an exact knowledge of nine languages, ancient
and modern, and in the farther pursuit of his academical
studies at Leyden, made great progress in logic, philo-
sophy, geometry, aud algebra. It was his father's wish that
he should study divinity, with a view to the church, and it
appears that he might have passed by an easy transition to
any of the learned professions. The law, however, was hit
ultimate destination ; and he applied himself to this with
so much zeal, that he was promoted the first year, when
he delivered a thesis " on the use of the torture," which
was published, and gained him considerable reputation.
At what time he settled at the Hague we are not told, but
there he was. made decypherer, translator of the Latin and
French languages, and patent-master to the States General.
It was now that he turned his attention to natural history,
especially entomology, and undertook an historical, descrip-
tion of such ^insects as are found about the Hague ; and as,
among his other accomplishments, he understood drawing,
he enriched his work with a great number of plates, which '
were much admired by the connoisseurs. In 1741 a French
translation of Lesser's " Theology of Insects" was printed
at the Hague, which induced Mr. Lyonet to defer the
publication of his own work, and make some observations
on Lesser's, to which he added two beautiful plates de-
signed by himself. His observations were thought of so
much importance that Reaumur caused the above transla-
tion to be reprinted at Paris, merely on account of them.
Lyonet afterwards executed drawings of the fresh water
polypes for Mr. Trembley's beautiful work, in 1744-. Wan-
delaar had engraved the first five plates of this work, and
being rather dilatory in producing the rest, Lyonet took a
i Ath. Ox. vol. I.
single lesson in engraving, and executed the btfaete Mm-*
*elf in a manner which astonished not only amateurs, but
experienced artists. In 1748 his reputation procured tan*
the hohour of being elected a member of the royal society
of London, as he was afterwards of other learned societies
in Europe. In 1764 appeared his magnificent work on
the caterpillar, " Traitg anatomique de la Chenille qui
ronge ie bois de Saule." In order to enable such as might
be desirous of following him in bis intricate and astonishing
discoveries respecting the structure of this animal, he pub-
lished, in the Transactions of the Dutch society of sciences,
at Haerlem, a description and plate of the instrument and
tools be had invented for the purpose of dissection, and
likewise of the method he used to ascertain the degree of
strength of his magnifying glasses. Mr. Lyonet died at tbe
Hague, Jan. 10, 1789, leaving some other works on ento-
mology unfinished, one of the most extensive collections of
shells in Europe, and a very fine cabinet of pictures. In
his early years, Mr. Lybnet practised sculpture and por-
trait-painting. Of the former, bis Apollo and the Moses,
a basso relievo cut in palm wood, is mentioned by Vaii
Gool, in his " Review of the Dutch Painters/9 as a master*
piece. To these many accomplishments Mr. Lyonet added
a personal character which rendered him admired during
his long life, and deeply regretted when his friends and
his country were deprived of his services. '
LYONS (Israel), son of a Polish Jew, who was a silver-
smith, and teacher of Hebrew at Cambridge, was bora
there, in 1739. He displayed wonderful talents as a young
man; and shewed very early a great inclination to learn*
ing, particularly mathematics ; but though Dr. Smith, then
master of Trinity-college, offered to put him to school at
his own expence, he would go only for a day or two* say-
ing, " he could learn more by himself in an hour than in
a day with his master." He began the study of botany in
1755, which he continued to his death ; and could remem-
ber, not only the Linnaean names of almost all the English
plants, but even the synonyma of the old botanists, which
form a strange and barbarous farrago of great bulk ; autl
bad collected large materials for a "Flora Cantabrigien-
sis," describing fully every part of each plant from the life,
without being obliged to consult, or being liable to be mis-*
1 Diet. Hist.— CUmt. Mag. vol. LIX.
I
LYONS. 17
■ ■
led by, former authors. In 1758 he obtained much cele-
brity by publishing a treatise " on Fluxions," dedicated
to his patron, J)r. Smith; and in 1763 a work entitled
" Fasciculus plantarum circi Cantabrigiam nascentium, quae
post Raium observatse fuere," 8vo. Mr. Banks (now sir
Joseph Banks, bart. and president of the royal society),
whom he first instructed in this science, sent for him to
Oxford, about 1762 or 1763, to read lectures; which he
did with great applause, to at least sixty pupils ; but could
not be induced to make a long absence from Cambridge.
He had a salary of a hundred pounds per annum for cal-
culating the " Nautical Almanack," and frequently received
presents from the board of longitude for his inventions.
•He cpuld read Latin and French with ease ; but wrote the
former ill ; had studied the English history, and could quote
whole passages from the Monkish writers verbatim. He
was appointed by the board of longitude to go with cap-
tain Phipps (afterwards lord Mulgrave) to the North pole
in 1773, and made the astronomical and other mathemati-
cal calculations, printed in the account of that voyage.
After his return he married and settled in London, where,
on May 1, 1775, he died of the measles. He was then
engaged in publishing a complete edition of all the works
of Dr. Halley. His " Calculations in Spherical Trigo-
nometry abridged,** were printed in "Philosophical Trans-
actions," vol. LXI. art 46. After his death his name ap-
peared in the title-page of "A Geographical Dictionary/' of
which the astronomical parts were said to be " taken from
the papers of the late Mr. Israel Lyons, of Cambridge, au-
thor of several valuable mathematical productions, and
astronomer in lord Mulgrave*s voyage to the Northern he-
misphere." It remains to be noticed, that a work entitled
" The Scholar's Instructor, or Hebrew Grammar, by Israel
Lyons, Teacher of the Hebrew Tongue in the University
of Gambridge : the second edition, with many Additions
and Emendations which the Author has found necessary in
his long course of teaching Hebrew,*' Cambridge, 1757,
8vo, was the production of his father; as was a treatise
printed at the Cambridge press, under the title of " Obser-
vations and Enquiries relating to various parts of Scripture
jjistory, 1761," published by subscription at two shillings
and six-pence. He died in August 1770, and was bu-
ried, agreeably to his own desire, although contrary to
the Jewish principles, in Great St. Mary's Church-yard,
Vol. XXI. C
18 LYONS.
Cambridge. He was on this occasion carried through the
church, and his daughter Judith read some form of inter*
ment-service over his grave. He had resided near forty
years at Cambridge. '
LYRA (Nicholas de), or LYRANUS, a celebrated
Franciscan, in the 14th century, and one of the most
learned men of his time, was born of Jewish parents at
Lyre, a town in Normandy, in the diocese of Evreux.
After having been instructed in rabbinical learning, he em-
braced Christianity, entered among the Franciscans at
Verneuil, 1291, and taught afterwards at Paris with great
credit. He rose by his merit to the highest offices in bis
order, and also gained the esteem of the great; queen
Jane, countess of Burgundy, and wife of Philip the Long,
appointed him one of her executors in 1'325. He died at
a very advanced age, October 23, 1340, leaving some
" Postils," or short Commentaries oh the whole Bible,
which were formerly in considerable reputation : the most
scarce edition of them is that of Rome, 1472, seven vols,
folio; and the best that of Antwerp, 1634, six vols, folio.
These commentaries are incorporated in the " Biblia Max-
ima," Paris, 1660, nineteen vols, folio; and there is a
French translation of them, Paris, 1511, and 1512, five
vols, folio. He published also " A Disputation against the
Jews," in 8vo, a treatise against a particular rabbi, who
made use of the New Testament to combat Christianity*
These, and his other works not printed, show the author
to have had a much more perfect knowledge of the Holy
Scriptures than was common at that time. 9
LYSERUS (Polycarp), a learned Protestant theologian,
was born at'Winendeen in the territory of Wittemberg, in
the year 1552. He was educated at Tubingen, at the ex-
pence of the duke of Saxony, and became a minister of
the church of Wittemberg in 1577. He was one of th£
first to sign the ", Concord," and was deputed, with James
Andreas, to procure the signature of the divines and mi-
nisters in the electorate of Saxony. He died at Dresden,,
where he was then minister, February 14, 1601, aged 50,
leaving a great number of works, both in German and La*
tin. The principal are, 1. " Explanations of Genesis/' in.
six parts, or six volumes, 4to, each of which bears th&
name of the patriarch whose history it explains. 2. "Com-
i Nichols's Bowyer.— Cole's MS Athenst in Brit Mus.
8 Moreri. — Dupin.— Diet. Hist.
LY8ERUS. 19
mentaries on the two first chapters of Daniel," 2 vols. 4to.
3, u A Paraphrase on the History of the Passion," 4to, or
12mo. 4. " Explanation of Psalm CI," 8vo. 5. " Com-
mentaries on the Minor Prophets," 4to, published at Leip-
sic, 1609, by Polycarp Lyserus, his great-grandson, who
has added some remarks on Haggai, according to his an-
cestor's method. 6. " Commentaries oil the Epistle to the
Hebrews." 7. " Centuria qosestionufti de articulis libri
Christians Concordiae," 4to. 8. " Christiantsmus, Papis-
mus, Calvinismus," 8vo. 9. " tlarmonia Calviniafrorum et
Photinianornm in Doctrkia de Sacfa Cemfa," 4to. 10. li Vin-
diciafc Lyserianro, an sincretisrtius in rebus fidei cum Cal-
vinianis coli prodest," 4to. 11. " Disputatioftes IX. An-
ti Steinianscr quijbus examinacar defensio concionis. Irenica
Paiili Steinii," 4to. 12. u Harmonia Evangelistarum con-
tinuata ad Christianam Harmon iam et ejusdem Epitome,
Svo\ 13. " Dispot. de Deo patre Creatore coeli et terrae,
4to. 14. "De aeternitate Fitii Dei," 4to. 15. " De sa-
cramentis decades date/9 4to. He published also the
" History of the Jesuits/9 written by Elias Hasenmullor,
who having quitted that society, and turned Lutheran, re-
tired to Witteraberg, and died there before his work was
printed. Father Gretser attacked this history, and Lyserus
auswered him by " Strena ad Gretserum pro honorario
ejus," 8vo.1
LYSERUS (John), another learned protestant, of the
same family as the preceding, but of opposite character,
may be introduced here as the precursor of the celebrated
Martin Madan, in supporting the doctrine of polygamy.
Lyserus is said to have been so infatuated with the am*
bition of founding a sect of polygamists, that he sacrificed
his life and fortune to prove that polygamy is not only
permitted,, but even commanded in certain cases ; and tra-
velled about Europe, endeavouring to find some countries
that would adopt his opinion. At length, after many fruit-
less journeys, Lyserus took the singular resolution of visit*
ing France, with a view to repair his fortune by chess, a
game he was perfectly master of, and accordingly settled
at Versailles. Here, however, he likewise failed, and
having, when sick, set out to walk from Versailles to Paris,
be encreased his disorder so much, that he died at a bouse
on the road, in 1634. He left numerous pieces, under
I Melchior Adam. — Moreri.— Gen. Diet.
C 2
,20 LY8 E R U S.
fictitious names, in favour of polygamy, the most consider*
able of which is entitled " Polygamia triumpbatrix," 1682,
4to. Brunsmanus, a minister of Copenhagen has refuted
this in a book* entitled " Polygamia. triumphata," 1689,
8vo; and again in another work, " Monogamia victrix,"
1639, 8vo. This poor man's attachment to a plurality of
wives appears the more wonderful,' Bayle observes, because
he had been much embarrassed by one. In less than a cen-v
tury he was succeeded in his opinions by the rev. M. Madan,
of whom hereafter. *
LYSIAS, an .eminent Greek orator, was born at Syra-
cuse, about the year 459 B. C. He was educated at Athens,
and became a teacher of rhetoric, and composed orations
for others, but does not appear to have been a pleader. Of
his orations, which are said to have amounted to three or
four hundred, only thirty-four remain. He died in the
eighty-first year of his age, and in the 378th year B.C.
Cice.ro and Quintilian give him a very high character, and
suppose that there is nothing of their kind more perfect
than his orations. Lysias lived at a somewhat earlier period
than .Isocrates ; and exhibits a model of that manner which
the ancients call the " tenuis vel subtilis." He has none
of the pomp of Isocrates. He is every where pure and
$ttic in the highest degree ; simple and unaffected ; but
wants force, and is sometimes frigid in his compositions. In
the judicious comparison which Dionysius of Halicarnas-
sus makes of the merits of Lysias and Isocrates, he
ascribes to Lysias, as the distinguishing character of
his manner, a qprtain graoe or elegance arising from sim-
plicity : " the style of Lysias has gracefulness for its na-
ture ; that of Isocrates seems to have it.9' In the art of
narration, as distinct, probable, and persuasive, he holds
Lysias to be superior to all orators ; at the same time be
admits, that his composition is more adapted to private
litigation than to great subjects. He convinces, but he
does not elevate nor animate. The magnificence and splen-
dour of Isocrates are more suited to great occasions. He
is more agreeable than Lysias ; and in dignity of senti-
ment far excels him. The first edition of Lysias is that
by Aldus, folio, 1513, in the first part of the " Rhetorum
Gnecorum orationes." The best modern editions are that
of Taylor, beautifully and correctly printed by Bowyer, in
1739, 4toj of Reiske, at Leipsic, 1772, 8vo; and of
• *
1 Moreri«— Geo, Diet,
LYSIPPUS'. it
Anger it Paris, 1782. Auger also published an excellent
French translation of Lysias in 1783. ■
LYSIPPUS, a celebrated statuary among the ancients,
was a native of Sicyon, and flourished in the time of
Alexander the Great. He was bred a locksmith, and fol-
lowed that business for a while ; but, by the advice of Eu-
pompus, a painter, he applied himself to painting, which,
however, he soon quitted 'for sculpture, and being thought
to execute his works with more ease than the ancients,
he became more employed than any other artist. The
statue of a man wiping and anointing himself after bathing
was particularly excellent : Agrrppa placed it before his
baths at Rome. Tiberius, who was charmed with it, and
not able to resist the desire of being master of it, when he
came to the empire, took it into his own apartment, and
placed another very fine one in its place. But the Roman
people demanding, in a full theatre, that he would replace
the first statue, he found it necessary, notwithstanding his
power, to comply witji their solicitations, in order to ap-
pease the tumult Another of Lysippus's capital pieces
was a statue of the sun, represented in a car drawn by four
% horses ; this statue was worshipped at Rhodes. He 'made
also several statues of Alexander and his favourites, which
were brought to Rome by Metellus, after he had "reduced
the Macedonian empire. He particularly excelled in the
representation of the hair, which be more happily expressed
than any of his predecessors in the art. He also made his
figures less than the life, that they might be seen such as
statues appear when placed, as usual, at some height;
and when he was charged with this fault, he answered,
" That other artists had indeed represented men such as
nature had made them, but, for his part, he chose to re-
present them such as they appeared to be to the eye."
He had three sons, who were all his disciples,- and ac-
quired great reputation in the art,9
LYTTLETON. See LITTLETON.
LYTTELTON (George), an elegant English writer^
was the eldest son of sir Thomas Lyttelton, of Hagley, in
Worcestershire, bart. and was born in 1709. He came into
the world two months before the usual time, and was
imagined by the nurse to be dead, but upon closer in spec*
1 From his editors.— Saxii Onomast.— Moreri.— Diet. Hist. — Dibciin and
Clarke.— Biair'i lecture*. * Pliim Hist. Nat. lib. III. cop. 9.
32 LYTTEITON.
tion was found alive, apd with sojne difficulty r e*r§d* At
Eton school, where he was educated, be w?s so much dis-
tinguished that his exercises were recommended as ippdels
to his school-fellows. From Eton he wept to Christ Church,
where he retained the same reputation of superiority, and
displayed his abilities to the public in a poem on Blenheim*
He was a very early writer, both in verse and prose ; bis
" Progress of Love/' and his " Persian Letters," hav-
ing both been written when he was very young, Aftefr
a short residence at Oxford, he began bis travels in
J728-, and visited France and Italy. From Rome he
sent those elegant verses which are prefixed to the works
of Pope, whom he consulted in 1730 respecting his four
pastorals. Pope made some alterations in them, which
may be seen in Bowles's late edition of that poet's wprks
(vol. IV. p. 139). We find Pope, a few years afterwards,
in a letter to Swift, speak thus of him : He is " one of
those whom his own merit has forced me to contract an
intimacy with, after I had sworn never to love st man
more, since the sorrow it cost me to have loved so many
now dead, banished, or unfortunate, I mean Mr. Lyttel-
ton, one of the worthiest of the rising generation," &c.
In another letter Mr. Lyttelton is mentioned in a manner
with which Dr. Warton says he was displeased *.
When he returned from his continental tour, he was
(May 4, 1729) made page of honour to the princess royal.
He also obtained a seat ip parliament, and soon distin-
guished himself among the most eager opponents of sir
Robert Walpole, though his father, who was one of the
lords of the admiralty, always voted with the court. For
many years the name of George Lyttelton was. seen in
every account of every debate in the bouse of commons.
Among the great leading questions* be qpposed the stand-
ing army j and the excise, and supported the motion for
petitioning the king to remove Wajpole. The prince of
Wales having, in consequence of a quarrel with the king,
been obliged to leave St. James's in 1737, kept a separate
court, and opened his arms to the opponents of the mi-
nistry. Mr. Lyttelton was made his secretary, and was
supposed to have great influence in the direction of his
conduct. His name consequently ocgurs, although not
very often, in Doddington's Diary. He persuaded the
♦ Pope's Works, vol. IX. Letter LXXXV,
LYTTELT'Otf.
23
prince, whose business it was now to be popular, that ha
would advance his character by patronage. Mallet wa*
made undersecretary, with 200/. a year; and Thomson
had a pension of 100/. The disposition of the two men
must account for the difference in, the sums. Mallet could
do more political service than the honest-hearted Thomson.
For Thomson, however, Mr. Lyttehon always retained
bis kindness, and was able at last to place him at ease.
Moore courted his favour by an apologetical poem called
" The Trial of Selim," and was paid with kind words,
which, as is common, says Dr. Johnson, raised great hopes,
that at last were disappointed. This matter, however, ii
differently stated in our account of Moore.
Mr. Lyttelton now stood in the first rank of opposition ;
and Pope, who was incited, it is not easy to say how, to
increase the clamour against the ministry, commended
him among the other patriots. This drew upon him the
reproaches of Mr. Henry Fox, who, in the House of Com-
mons, was weak enough to impute to hitan as a crime
his intimacy with a lampooner so unjust and licentious.
Eyttelton supported bis friend, and replied, " that he
thought it an honour to be received into the familiarity of
so great a poet.9' While he was thus conspicuous, he
married (1741) Miss Lucy Fortescne, sister to Matthew lord
Fortescue, of Devonshire, by whom he bad a sort, Thomas,
and two daughters, and with whom he appears to have
lived in the highest degree of cownubial felicity : but hn-
tnan pleasures are *hort; dhe died in childbed about six
years afterwards (1747) ; and he solaced his grief by writ-
ing a " Monody" * to her memory, without, however, con-
• This notice of the Monody, which
it given in Dr. Johnson's words, has
been thought toe scanty praise. In
truth, it is no praise at all, but an
assertion, and not a just one, that lord
Lyttelton " solaced his grief" by writ-
ing the poem. The praise or blame
was usually reserved by Johnson • for
the conclusion of his lives, but in this
case the Monody is not- mentioned at
all. We have on record, however, an
opinion of Gray, which the admirers of
the poem will perhaps scarcely think
more sympathetic than Johnson's «-
line*. In a letter to lord Orford, who
had probably spoken "with disrespect
of the Monody, pray says, " I am
not totally of your mind as to Mr.
Lyttelton's elegy, though I love kids
and fauns as little as you do. If it
were aH like the fourth stanza, I should
be eacessively pleased. Nature and
sorrow and tenderness are the true
genius of such things ; and something
of these I find in several parts of it
(not in the orange tree) : poetical or-
naments are foreign to the purpose,
for they only show a man is not sorry
—and, devotion worse ; for it teaches
hjm that. he ought not to he sorry,
which * all the pleasure of the thiiijr."
— Orford's Works, vol. V. p. 359. Dr,
Johnson is undoubtedly ironical in say-
ing that the author " solaced his grief"
by writing the Monody. The poet's
grief must have abated, and hi^mind
24 iYtf ELTON.
demning himself to perpetual solitude and sorrow; for
soon after he sought to find the same happiness again in a
second marriage with the daughter of sir Robert Rich
(1749) ; but the experiment was unsuccessful, and he was
for some years before his death separated from this lady.
" She was," says Gilbert West in a letter to Dr. Doddridge,
" an intimate and dear friend of his former wife, which »
some kind of proof of her merit ; I mean of the goodness
of her heart, for that is the chief merit which Mr. Lyttel-
ton esteems; and I hope she will not in this disappoint,
his expectations;, in all otter points she is well suited to
him; being extremely well accomplished in languages,
music, painting, &c. very sensible, and well bred." This
lady died Sept. 17, 1795.
When, after a long struggle, Walpole gave way,, and
honour and profit were distributed among his conquerors,
Lyttelton was made in (1744) one of the lords of the trea-
sury ; an^ from that time was engaged hi supporting the
schemes of ministry. Politics did not, however, so muph
engage him as to withhold his thoughts from things of more
importance. He had, in the pride of juvenile confidence,
with the help of corrupt conversation, entertained doubts
of the truth of Christianity ; but he thought the time now
come when it was no longer* fit to doubt or believe by
chance, aifd applied himself seriously to the great question.
His studies being honest, ended in conviction. He found
that Religion was true, and what he had learned he endea-
voured to teach, by " Observations on the Conversion and
Apostleship of St. Paul," printed in 1747 ; a treatise to
which infidelity has never been able to fabricate a specious
answer. This book his father h?d the happiness of seeing,
and expressed his pleasure in a letter which deserves to be
inserted, and must have given to such a son a pleasure
more easily conceived than described : " I have read your
religious treatise with infinite pleasure and satisfaction.
The style is fine and clear, the arguments close, cogent,
.and irresistible. May the King of kings, whose glorious
cause you have so well defended, reward your pious la-
bours, and grant that I may be found worthy, through the
recovered its tone before be could led him to do this in poetry, and he
write at all ; and when this became no more deserves the suspicion of Ijr-
Mr. Lyttelton% case, he felt it his duty pocrisy, than if he had, as an artist,
to pay an affectionate tribute to the painted an apotheosis, or executed a
memory of his lady, who certainly was monument,
one of % best of women. His talent*
IYTTELTO**. 25
merits of Jesus Christ, to be an eye-witness of that happi-
ness which I don't doubt He will bountifully bestow upon
you! In the mean time, I shall never cease glorifying
God, for havjng endowed you with such useful talents, and
given me so good a son. Your affectionate father, Tho-
mas Lyttelton." — When the university of Oxford con-
ferred the degree of LL. D. on Mr. West for his excellent
work on the " Resurrection," the same honour is said to
have been offered to our author for the above piece, but he
declined it in a handsome maimer, by saying that he chose
not to be under any particular attachments, that, if he
should happen to write any thing of the like kind for the
future, it might not appear to proceed from any other mo-
tive whatsoever, but a pure desire of doing good.
A few years afterwards, in 1751, by the death of his
father, be inherited the title of baronet, with a large es-
tate, which, though perhaps he did not augment, he was
careful to adorn, by a house of great elegance and ' ex-
pence, and by much attention to the decoration of his
park at Hagley. As he continued his exertions in parlia-
ment, he was gradually advancing his claim to" profit and
preferment; and accordingly was made in 1754 cofferer
and privy-counsellor. This place he exchanged next year
for that of chancellor of the exchequer, an office, however,
that required some qualifications which he soon perceived
himself to want. It is au anecdote no less remarkable than
true, that he never could comprehend the commonest rules
of arithmetic. The year after, his curiosity led him into
Wales; of which he has given an account, perhaps rather
with too much affectation of delight, to Archibald Bower,
a man of whom he had conceived an opinion more favour-
able than he seems to have deserved, \md whom, having
once espoused his interest and fame, he never was per-
suaded to disown. It must indeed have proceeded from a
strong conviction of Bower's innocence, however acquired,
that such a man as Lyttelton adhered to him to the very last.
About 1755, he prevented Garrick from bringing Bower
on the stage in the character of a mock convert, to be
shewn in various attitudes, in which the profligacy of his
conduct was to be exposed : and a Very few years before
his own death, he declared to the. celebrated Dr. Lardner
bis opinion of Bower in these words, " I have no more
doubt of his having continued a firm protestant to the last
hour of his life, than I have of my not being a papist my-
self."
26
EYTTELTON.
About this time he published his " Dialogues of the
Dead," which were very eagerly read, though the produce
tion rather, as it seems, of leisure than of study, rather
effusions than compositions. When, in the latter part of
the last reign, the inauspicious commencement of the war
made the dissolution of the ministry unavoidable, sir
George Lyttelton, losing his employment with the rest,
was raised to the peerage, Nov. 19, 1757, by the title of
lord Lyttelton, baron of Frankley, in the county of Wor-
cester. His last literary production was, " The History of
Henry the Second," 1764, elaborated by the researches
and deliberations of twenty years, and published with the
greatest anxiety, which Dr. Johnson, surely very impro-
perly, ascribes to vanity. The story of the publication,
however, we allow to be remarkable. The whole work
was printed twice over, greatest part of it three times, and
many sheets four or five times *. The booksellers paid
for the first impression f ; but the charges and repeated
alterations of the press were at the expence of the author,
whose ambitious accuracy is known to have cost him at
least a thousand pounds. He began to print in 1755. Three
volumes appeared in 1764; a second edition of them in
1767 ; a third edition in 1768 ; and the conclusion in 1771.
Andrew Reid, a man not without considerable abilities, and
Hot unacquainted with letters or with life, undertook to
persuade the noble author, as he had persuaded himself,
that he was master of the secret of punctuation ; and, as
fear begets credulity, he was employed, we know not at
what price, to point the pages of " Henry the Second," as
if# said Johnson once in conversation, " another man could
point his sense better than himself.'* The book, however,
* The copy was all transcribed by
hit lordship's own hand, and that net
a vary legible one, as he acknowledges
in a letter to bis printer. See Nichols's
Bowyer.
f This fact is undoubtedly true. We
snail not scruple, however, to add to it
a trifling circumstance, which shews
that the excellent peer (whose finances
tfere not in the most flourishing situa-
tion) could bear with great fortitude
#hat by many would hare been deem-
ed an insnlt. The booksellers, at a
stated period, had paid the stationer
for at much paper as they had agreed
to- purchase. His lordship then be-
came the paymaster ; in which state
the work went on for some years, till
the stationer, having been disappointed
of an expected sum, refused to furnish
any more paper. With great reluct-
ance Mr. Bowyer was prevailed on to
carry this report to his lordship ; and
began the tale with much hesitation.—-
" Oh ! I understand you," says his
lordship very calmly, " the man is
afraid to trust me ! I acknowledge I am
poor, and so are two thirds of the
House of Peers ; but let me request
you to be my security." It is need-
less to add, that Mr. Bowyer obliged
his lordship, and had no reason to re-
pent of the civility.
LYTTELTON. it
was at last pointed and printed, and sent into the world.
His lordship took money for his copy, of which, when he
had paid the pointer, he probably gave the rest away ; for
be was very liberal to the indigent* When time brought
the history to a third edition, Reid was either dead or dis-
carded ; and the superintendence of typography and punc-
tuation was committed to a man originally a eomb-jnaker,
but then known by the style of Dr. Saunders. Something
uncommon was probably expected, and something uncom-
mon was at last done ; for to the edition of Dr. Saunders is
appended, what the world had hardly seen before, a list of
errors of nineteen pages.
Lord Lyttelton had never the appearance of a strong or
a healthy man ; be had a slender uncompacted frame, and
a meagre face * : he lived, however, above sixty years,
and then was seized with bis last illness, ' Of his death this
very affecting and instructive account has been given by
his physician, Dr. Johnstone of Kidderminster/ " On Sun-
day evening the symptoms of his lordship's disorder, which
for a week past had alarmed us, put on a fatal appearance,
and his lordship believed himself to be a dying man. From
this time he suffered by restlessness rather than pain ; and
though his nerves were apparently much fluttered, bis
mental faculties never seemed stronger, when he was tho-
roughly awake. His lordship's bilious and hepatic com-
plaints seemed alone not equal to the expected mournful
event ; bis long want of sleep, whether the consequence
of the irritation in the bowels, or, which is more probable,
of causes of a different kind, accounts for his loss of
strength, and for his death, very sufficiently. Though his
lordship wished his approaching dissolution not to be lin-
gering, he waited for it with resignation. He said, * It is
a folly, a keeping me in misery, now to attempt to prolong
life ;' yet he was easily persuaded, for the satisfaction of
others, to do or take any thing thought proper for him.
On Saturday he had been remarkably better, and we were
apt without some hopes of bis recovery. On Sunday, about
eleven in the forenoon, his lordship sent for me, and said
he felt a great hurry, and wished to have a little conversa-
tion with me in order to divert it. He then proceeded to
open the fountain of that heart, from whence goodness had
* la a political Caricature print, le- " But who be dat to lank, 90 lean, to
#Ned against lir Robert Walpole, he bony )
i* tfcus described : O dat be great orator, Lytteltony."
28 L Y T TELTON.
a
so long flowed as from a copious spring* ' Doctor,' said
he, € you shall be my confessor : When I first set out in
the world, I had friends, tvho endeavoured to shake my
belief in the Christian religion. I saw difficulties which
staggered me; but I kept. my mind open to conviction.
The evidences and doctrines of Christianity, studied with
attention, made me a most firm and persuaded believer of
the Christian religion. I have made it the rule of my life,
and it is the ground of my future hopes. I have erred
and sinned ; but have repented, and never indulged any
vicious habit. In politics, and public life, I have made
the1 public good the rule of my conduct. I never gave
counsels which I did not at the time think the best. I
have seen that I was sometimes in the wrong, but I did
not err designedly. I have endeavoured, in private life,
%o do all the good in my power, and never for a moment
could indulge malicious or unjust designs upon any person
whatsoever.9 At another time he said, '. I must leave my
soul in the same state it was in before this illness ; I find
this a very inconvenient time for solicitude about any
thing.9. On the evening when the symptoms of death
came on him, he said, 'I shall die ; but it will not be your
fault' When lord and lady Valentia came to see bis lord-
ship, he gfwe them this solemn benediction, and said, ' Be
good, be virtuous, my lord. You must come to this.9 Thus
he continued giving his dying benediction to all around
him. On Monday morning a lucid interval gave some
'small hopes, but these vanished in the evening; and he
continued dying, but with very little uneasiness, till Tues-
day morning, August 22, when between seven and eight
o'clock he expired, almost without a groan." His lord-
ship was buried at Hagley ; with an inscription cut on the
side of his lady's monument.
He was succeeded by his son Thomas, second lord LyU
telton, of whom the following too just character is on
record : " With great abilities generally very ill applied ;
with a strong sense of religion, which he never suffered to
influence .his conduct, his days were mostly passed in
splendid misery ; and in the painful change of the most
extravagant gaiety, and the deepest despair. The delight,
when lie pleased, of the first and most select societies, he
chose to pass his time, for the most part, #rith the most
profligate and abandoned of both sexes. Solitude was qi
him the most insupportable torment ; and to banish reflec-
LYTTELTON,
tion, be flew to company whom he despised and ridiculed.
His conduct was a subject of bitter regret both to fait father
and all his friends*." He closed this unhappy life, Nov. 27,
1779. Two volumes of "Letters" published in 1780 and
1782, though attributed to him, are known to have been
the production of an ingenious writer yet living; and a
quarto volume of "Poems," published in 1780, was, as
well as the " Letters," publicly disowned by his executors,
but as to the "Poems," they added, * great part whe^of
are undoubtedly spurious."
We have more pleasure, however, in returning to the cha*
racter of George lord Lvttelton, which has been uniformly
delineated by those who • knew him best, in favourable
colours. Of the various sketches which we have seen, we
are inclined to give a place to the following, which,
although somewhat Ipng, is less known than those to be
found in the accounts of his biographers, and appears to
have been written by a near observer : " Few characters, *
says the writer, "recorded m the annals of this country,,
ever united so many rare, valuable, and amiable qualities,
as that of the late lord Lyttelton. Whether we consider
this- great man in public or private life, we are* justified in
affirming, that he abounded in virtues not barely sufficient
to create reverence and esteem, but to insure him the love
and admiration of all who knew him. — Look upon him as a
statesman, and a public man ; where shall we find another,
who always thought right and meant well, and who So sel-
dom acted wrong, or was misled or mistaken in his mini-
sterial, or senatorial conduct? Look upon his lordship in
the humbler scene of private and domestic life; and if
thou hadst the pleasure of knowing him, gentle reader,
point out the breast warm or cold, Khat so copiously
abounded with every gift and acquirement which indulgent
nature could bestow, or the tutored mind improve arid re-
fine, to win and captivate mankind.
" His personal accomplishments, and the sweetness and
pliability of his temper, which accompanied and swayed
them, always recalled to my memory, that line of his own,
only varying the sex ', bis ' Wit was Nature by the Grace*
drest.' — His affability and condescension to those below
him, was not the effect of art, or constrained politeness,
dictated by the hackneyed sterile rules of decorum 'and
* Pennington's Memoirs of Mrs. Carter.
SO LYTTELTON.
a
good breeding : no, the benevolence of his heart pervaded
the whole man ; it illuminated his countenance, it softened
his accents, it mixed itself with bis demeanour, and gave
evidence at once of the goodness of his heart, and the
soundness of his understanding.
" To such as were honoured with his friendship and his
intimacy, his kindness was beyond example ; he shared at
once bis affections and his interests among his friends, and
. tomrds the latter part of his life, when his ability to serve
them ceased, he felt only for those who depended on biof
for their future advancement in life. The unbounded au-
thority be possessed over them was established in parental
dominion, not in the cold, haughty, supercilious supe-
riority of a mere patron. — Among this latter description,
the author of the present rude outline is proud of ranking
himself, and is happy in recollecting, that he obeyed, or
ratber anticipated, the wishes of bis noble friend, as far as
lay in bis power, with more ehearfulness and alacrity than
he would in executing even the confidential mandates of
the greatest monarch or minister in Christendom.
" His lordship's acquaintance with men and books was
accurate and extensive. His studies in the early part of
hisJife must have been well directed, and his taste remark-
ably judicious, for no person ever lived who was less tinc-
tured with the vulgar moroseness, and self- conceited air of
a pedant, nor with the affectation and frivolity of that rank
in life, which his birth, fortune, and situation, rendered
customary and familiar to him.
" He was perfectly and intimately acquainted with the
works of the most celebrated writers of antiquity in verse
and prose. His. memory was stocked with the most strik-
ing passages contained in them; but he never indulged
nor gave way to the strong impressions they had stamped
on his mind, but to gratify his confidential friend* When*
ever he consented to their entreaties, his allusion* were
judiciously selected, and applied with thenvost consummate
propriety. His language was manly, nervous, and tech*
nicak It was suited to the personal rank, knowledge, and'
disposition, of those be conversed with ; by which means
be rendered himself agreeable and intelligible to every
mtsoq, whom chance, amusement, or business, threw in
us way.
" His discernment of spirits, the term which the late
lord Bolingbroke substitutes for th e familiar ' phrase of
LYTT ELTON. 31
knowing mankind, was no less conspicuous, when he
thought proper to exert it with steadiness and vigour ; but
unfortunately for his own domestic peace, it was extremely
difficult to rouse him. He trusted too much to the repre-
sentations of others, and was always ready to leave the
labour of discriminating characters, to those who too often
found an interest in deceiving him. Though his steadiness
of principle, penetration, and justness of reflection, might
be well ranked in the first class, those talents were in a
great measure effectually lost, because his employments
and pursuits as a public man, his amusements as a man of
taste and science, and, in the latter part of his life, bis
avocations as a writer, so totally engrossed his attention,
that he entirely neglected his private affairs, and in a va-
riety of instances fell a prey to private rapine and literary
imposition. This was the joint effect of native indolence,
and a certain incurable absence of mind. To show that
his want of discrimination was not native, but that the
power of knowing those he communicated with* was ren-
dered to some purpose useless, because it was not em-
ployed, a stronger proof need not be given, than his'
thorough knowledge of the court, as exhibited in parties,
and the several individuals who composed them. He could
tell the political value of almost every veteran courtier, of
candidate for power. He could develope their latent view%
he cotold foretell their change of conduct He foresaw the
effect of such and such combinations, the motives which
formed them, the principles which held them together,
and the probable date of their dissolution. Whenever tab
was imposed on, it was through the want of attentive, not
of parts ; or from a kind of settled opinion, that men of
common plain understandings, and good reputation, would
hardly risque solid advantages in pursuit of unlawful gain,
which last might eventually be accompanied with loss of
character, as well as the object proposed to he attained*
Whatever plausibility tber/s may appear in this mode of
reasoning, experience frequently informed his lordship,
tfrat it was not to be depended on. He was plundered by
his servants, deceived by bis, humble companions, misled
by his confidents, and imposed on by several of those
whom he patronized. He felt the effects of all this, in his
family, in his finances, ^nd even in the rank he should
have preserved. Those who were not acquainted with the
solidity, of his judgment, the acuteness of his wit, the
S2 IYTTELTON. .
brilliancy and justness of bis thoughts, the depth of his
penetration, and with the amazing extent of bis genius,
were apt to confound the consequences of his conduct,
with the powers and resources of his mind. If his lordship
remained out of place, on principle, the ignorant inclined
to ascribe this seeming court proscription to simplicity or
want of talents. If he did not support his rank with that
ostentatious splendour now become so fashionable, the
world was ready to impute it to a want of (economy, or a
want of spirit ; but in all those conjectures and conclu-
sions, the world were much mistaken and misled. He had
frequent offers, some of them the most flattering, to take
a part in administration ; but he uniformly rejected them.
His manner of living at his seat at Hagley was founded on
the truest principles of hospitality, politeness, and society ;
and as to money, he knew no other use of it but to answer
his own immediate calls, or to enable him to promote the
happiness of others *." #
Much of this character corresponds with the accounts
which might be extracted from the correspondence of his
friends, who were so numerous as perhaps to include all
the eminent literary persons of his time. With such he
delighted to associate, was often a useful patron of rising
genius, and to the last was ambitious of a personal ac-
quaintance with men whose works he admired. We have
a remarkable instance of this in his visiting (in 1767) old
Dr. Lardner, and introducing himself as one who had read
his volumes with pleasure and profit. Lardner was at this
time so deaf that his visitors were obliged to carry on con-
versation with him by writing, to which tiresome condition
lord Lyttelton gladly submitted.
Lord Lyttelton's literary character has been so long
established that it is unnecessary to add much on the sub-
ject. His Miscellaneous Works have been often reprinted,
and, although in some of them rigid criticism may find ob-
jections, cannot be read without pleasure and advantage.
His " History of Henry II.'9 is also now a standard work,
valuable both for matter and style. , His " Persian Let-
ters,11 written when a very young man, are included among
his miscellaneous works, but Dr. Warton informs us that
he had intended to discard them, as there were principles
and remarks in them that he wished to retract and alter.
* St. James's Chronicle, Sept. 1776.
LYTTELT O'tf. 33
The reader finds them, however, as originally published,
and they contain many shrewd remarks and just ridicule on
the manners of the times. His juvenile pieces were not
always his worst. Dr. Warton remarks that his Observa-
tions on the life of Cicero contain perhaps a more dispas-
sionate and impartial character of that great orator than is
exhibited in the panegyrical volumes of Middleton, It
may here be noticed that some of his letters to Warton
occur in WoolPs Life, by which we learn that lord Lyttel-
ton made him his chaplain in 1756. As a poet, we do not
find among critics any wide departure from Dr. Johnson's
opinion. Lord Lyttelton's poems are to be praised chiefly
for correctness and elegance of versification and style.
His " Advice to Belinda/' though for the most part writ-
ten when he was very young, contains, Dr. Johnson says,
" much truth and much prudence, very elegantly and vi-
gorously expressed, and shows a mind attentive to life, and
a power of poetry which cultivation might have raised to
excellence." As far, however, as this implies that lord
Lyttelton did not cultivate his powers, we are inclined to
think our great critic in error. Lord Lyttelton was very
early a poet, and appears to have not only valued his talent,
bat acquired his first reputation from the exercise of it.
He was very early a critic too, as appears by his account
of Glover's " Leonidas," printed in 1737, and few men *
were oftener consulted by young poets in the subsequent
part of his life. Mickle may be instanced as one whose
first pieces were carefully perused and corrected by him,
and although Mickle was disappointed in the hopes he en-
tertained from him as a patron, he often owned his obligations
to him as a critic; Lord Lyttelton's was the patronage of
kindness rather than of bounty. He courted the acquaint-
ance and loved the company of men of genius and learning,
with whom his correspondence also was extensive, but he
had little of his own to give away, and was so long of the
party in opposition to ministers, as to have very little state
interest.
His collected works, first printed in 4to, in 1774, and
since in 8vo, consist of, 1. "Observations on the Life of
Cicero." 2. " Observations on the Roman History." 3.
" Observations on the present state of our affairs at home,
and abroad," &c. 4. " Letters from a Persian in England
to his friend at Ispahan." 5. " Observations on the con-
version and apostleship of St. Paul." 6. " Dialogues of
Vol. XXI. D
S* t. Y T. T E. U T O Nl
the XHNkL" 7. " Four Speeches in parliament." fr.
V Poems." 9, " Letters to Sir Thomas Lyttelton." lO.
V Account of * Journey into Wales." Some other lesser
pieces, which appeared in the periodical journals, have been
attributed to him, and some anonymous political pamphlets*
Lord Qrford mentions him as a writer in the. paper called
" Copimon Sense," hut has riot discovered his share. In
th*t, however, he certainly wrote the criticism on " Leo*
oidas," which occurs in p. 72, of the first volume. In
yol, II. p. 31, is a paper from the pen of lord Chesterfield,
dated March 4, 173 8, in defence of lord (then Mr.) Lyt-
telton against the attacks of the writers in the Daily Ga-
zetteer. From bis connection with the party in opposition
to sir Robert Waipole, it seems not unreasonable to con*
jecture that he wrote in the ".Craftsman ;" but for this we
have no positive authority.1
LYTTELTON (Charles), third son of sir Thomas, and
brother to George lord Lyttelton, was born at Hagley, in
1714. He was educated at Eton-school, and went thence
first to University-college, Oxford, and then to the Inner-
Temple* where he became a barrister at law ; but entering
into orders, was collated by bishop Hough to the rectory
of Alvechuroh, in Worcestershire, Aug. IS, 1742. He
took the degree of LL. B. March 28, 1745 ; LL. D. June
18 the same year ; was appointed king's chaplain in Dee.
1747, dean of Exeter in May 1748, and was consecrated
bishop of Carlisle, March 21, 1762. In 1754 he caused
the cieling and cornices of the chancel of Hagley church
to be ornamented with shields of arms in their proper co-
lours, representing the paternal coats of his ancient and
fespectable family. In 1765, on the death of Hugh lord
Willoughby of Parham, he was unanimously elected pre-
sident of the society of antiquaries ; a station in which hia
distinguished abilities were eminently displayed. He died
unmarried, Dec*. 22, 1768. His merits and good qualities
are universally acknowledged ; and those parts of his cha-
racter which more particularly endeared him to the learned
1 Life by Johnson.—- Lord Orford's Works, vol. T. p. 539, and vol. V. p. 38S.
— Nichols's Bowyer. — Swift's Works. — BosweiPs Life of Johnson — Doddridge's
Letters* p. 1 19f 344, 443, 470,— .Gent. Mag. vol. XLV. p. 371, and LX. p. 594.
—Forbes^ Life of Beattie.-*-Wooll's Life of Warton, p. 242. 321.— Da vies* s
Xifeof Garrick, vol. I. p. 272.— Bowles's edition of Pope's Works.— Leland's
tteistieal Writers, and an interesting chapter in Graves's " Recollection- of
some particulars in the Life of Sbeasfone,?' 1788, 8vo. — Sir E. Brydges's edit*
*t Coliins'a Peerage.
L Y TT E L T O M. 35
Society over which he so wbrtfcily presided, shall be
pointed out in the words of his learned successor dean
Miiles : " The study of antiquity, especially that part of
it which relates to the history and constitution of these
kingdoms, was one of his earliest and most favourable pur-
suits ; and he acquired great knowledge in it by constant
study and application, to which he was led, not only by his
natural disposition, but also by his state and situation in
life. He took frequent opportunities of improving and en-
riching this knowledge by judicious observations iu the
course of several journies which he made through every
country of England, and through many parts of Scotland
and Wales. The society has reaped the fruits of these
observations in the most valuable papers, which* his lord-
ship from' time to time has communicated to us ; which
are more in number, and not inferior either in merit or im-
portance, to those conveyed to us by other hands. Blest
with a retentive memory, and happy both in the disposi-
tion and facility of communicating his knowledge, he was
enabled also to act the part of a judicious commentator
and candid critic, explaining, illustrating, and correcting
from his own observations many of the papers which have
been ^read at this society. His station and connection* in
the world, which necessarily engaged a very considerable
part of his time, did not lessen his attention to the business
and interests of the society. His doors were always open
to his friends, amongst whom none were more welcome
tohiin than the friends of literature, which he endeavoured
to promote in all its various branches, especially in those
which are the more immediate objects of our attention.
Even this circumstance proved beneficial to' the society,
for, if I may be allowed the expression, lie was the centre
in which the various informations on points of antiquity
from the different parts of the kingdom united, and the
medium through which they were conveyed to us. His
literary merit with the society received an additional lustre
from the affability of his temper, the gentleness of his
manners, and the benevolence of his heart, which united
every member of the society in esteem $o their head, and
in harmony and friendship with each other. A principle -
so essentially necessary to the prosperity and even to the
existence of all communities, especially those which have
arts and literature for their object, that its beneficial ef-
fects are visibly to be discerned in the present flourishing
D 2
36 L Y T T E L T O N,
state of our society, which I flatter myself will be long
continued under the influence of the same agreeable prin-
ciples. I shall conclude this imperfect sketch of a most
worthy character, by observing that the warmth of his af-
fection to the society continued to his latest breath; and
he has given a signal proof of it in the last great act which
a wise man does with respect to his worldly affairs ; for,
amongst the many charitable and generous donations con-
tained in his will, he has made a very useful and valuable
bequest of manuscripts and printed books to the society,
as a token of his affection for them, and of his earnest de-?
sire to promote those laudable purposes for which they were
instituted." The society expressed their gratitude apd re-r
spect to his memory by a portrait of him engraved at their
expence in 1770.
Besides his contributions to th* papers of the society of
antiquaries, published in the " Archseologia," there is in
Gutch's " Collectanea Curiosa," vol. II. p. 354, " Dean
Lyttelton's Memoir concerning the authenticity of his copy
of Magna Charta," from the minutes of the antiquarian
society, and an answer by judge Blackstone.1
I Nichols's Bowyer.
M.
JtVlABILLON (John), a very learned French writer,
was born Nov. 23, 1632, at Pierre-mont, on the frontiers
of Champagne. He was educated in the university of
Rheims, and afterwards entered into the abbey of the
Benedictines of St. Remy ; where he took the habit ir\
1653, and made Che profession the year following. He
was looked upon at first as a person that would do. honour
to his order ; but a perpetual head-ach, with which he was
afflicted, almost destroyed all the expectations which were
conceived of him. He was ordained priest at Amiens in
M A B I L L O N. it
1660; and afterwards, lest too much solitude should
injure his health, which was not yet re-established, was
sent by his superiors to St. Denis, where he was appointed,
during the whole year 1663, to shew the treasure arid 'mo-
numents of , the kings of France. But having there un-
fortunately broken a looking-glass, which was pretended
to have belonged to Virgil, he obtained leave to quit an
employment, which, as he said, frequently obliged him to
relate things he did not believe. As the indisposition of
his head gradually abated, he began to shew himself more
and* more to the world. Father d'Acheri, who was then
compiling his " Spicilegium," desiring to have some young
monk, who could assist him in that work, Mabillon was
chosen for the purpose, and accordingly went to Paris in
1664, where he was very serviceable to d'Acheri. This
began to place his talents in a conspicuous light, and to
shew what might be expected from him. A fresh occasion
soon offered itself to him. The congregation of St. Maur had*
formed a design of publishing new editions of the fathers,
revised from the manuscripts, with which the libraries of
the order of the Benedictines, as one of the most ancient,
are furnished. Mabillon was ordered to undertake the
edition of St. Bernard, which he had prepared with great
judgment and learning, and published at Paris, in 1667,
in two volumes folio, and nine octavo. In 1690 he pub-
lished a second edition, augmented with almost fifty letters,
new preliminary dissertations-, and new notes; and just
before his death was preparing to publish a third. He
had no sooner published the first edition of St. Bernard,
than the congregation appointed him to undertake an
edition of the " Acts of the Saints of the order of Benedic-
tines;" the first volume of which he published in 1668,
and continued it to nine volumes in folio, the last of which;
was published in 1701. The writers of the "Journal de
Trevoux" speak not improperly of this work when they
say that " it ought to be considered, not as a simple col-
lection of memoirs relating to monastic history, but as a
valuable compilation of ancient monuments ; which, being
illustrated by learned notes, give a great light to "the most
obscure part 6f ecclesiastical history. " The prefaces alone,'*
say they, " would secure to the author an immortal reputa-
tion. The manners and usages of those dark ages are
examined with great care; and an* hundred important
questions are ably discussed." Le Clerc, in the placfe
. /
3* MA RILL ON.
referred to above, from which we have chiefly drawn out
account of Mabillon, has given us one example of a que**
tion occasionally discussed by him in the course of hi*
work, concerning the use of unleavened bread, in the ce*
lebration of the sacrament. Mabillon shews, in the pre-
face to the third age of his " Acta Sanctorum," that the
use of it is more ancient than is generally believed ; and*
in 1674, maintained it in a particular dissertation, ad*
dressed to cardinal Bona, who was before of a contrary
opinion. But the work which is supposed to have done
him the most honour i» his " De re diplomatic* libri sex,
in quibus quicquid ad veterum instrumentorum antiquita-
tern, materiam, scripturam et stilum ; quicquid ad sigilla*
monogrammata, subscriptiones, ac notas cnronologicas ;
quicquid inde ad antiquariam, historicam, forensemque
disciplinam pertinet, expljcatur, et illustratur. Accedunt
commentarius de antiquis regum Francorum palatiis, ve«*
terum scripturarum varia specimina tabulis LX. compre*>
hensa, nova ducentorum et amplius monumentorum coi lec-
tio," Paris, 1681, folio. The examination of almost an
infinite number of charters and ancient titles, which had
passed through his hands, led him to form the design of
reducing to certain rules and principles an art, of which,
before there had been only very confused ideas. It was a,
bold attempt; but he executed it with such success, that
he was thought to have carried it at once to perfection.
In 1682 he took a journey into Burgundy, in which M.
Colbert employed him to examine some ancient titles re-
lating to the, royal family. That minister received all the
satisfaction he could desire ; and, being fully convinced
of Mabillon's experience and abilities in these points, sent
him the year following into Germany, in order to search
there, among the archives and libraries of the ancient
abbeys for materials to illustrate the history of the church
in general, and that of France in particular. He spent five
months in this journey, and published an account of it.
He took another journey into Italy in 1685, by order of
the king of France ; and returned the yesrr following with
a very noble collection of above three thousand volumes of
rare books, both printed and manuscript, which he added
to the king's library ; and, in 1687, composed two volumes,
of the pieces he had discovered in that country, under the
title of "Museum Italicum." After this he employed
himself in publishing other works, which are strong evi~
fif ▲ B I L L 0 & 3*
dence* of his vast abilities and application* In 16»S be<
published a Latin letter concerning the worship of theim*
knQwn<$aints, which be called " Eusebii Romafli.ad Theo-.
philum, Galium epistola." The history of Ibis piece does
credit to his love of truth, and freedoofc from traditional
prejudices. While at Rome be had endeavoured to iO"
form himself particularly of those rules and precautions,
which were*>necessary to be observed witb regard to the
bodies of saints taken out of the catacombs, in order . to be
exposed to the veneration of the public. He had himself
visited those plaies, and consulted all persons who could
give him light upon the subject; but five or six years
elapsed after bis return to France, without his* having ever
thought of making use of these observation*. . In 1692,
however, be drew up the treatise above-mentioned J in
which be gave it as bis opinion, that the bodies found ii*
the catacombs were Aoo hastily, and without sufficient
foundation, concluded to be the bodies of martyrs. Still,;
aware this was a subject pf a very delicate nature, and that
such an opinion might possibly give offence, be kept it by
bim five years, without communicating it to above one
person ; and tb$n sent it, under the seaL of secresy, to
rardinal Collorrde at Rome, whose opinion was, that it
should not be published in the form it was then in. JNever*
theiess, in 1698 it waa published ; aad, as might easily be
foreseen, very ill received at Rome ; and after many com*
plaints, murmurs, and criticisms, it was to 1701 brought
before (be Congregation of the Index, and MabiUon fo iud
it necessary to employ all his interest to prevent the ( cen-
sure of that body. Nor, perhaps, could he have averted
this misfortune if be bad not agreed to publish a new
edition of it ; in which, by softening seine passages, and
throwing upon inferior officers whatever abuses might be
committed with regard to the bodies taken out of the ca^
tacombs, be easily satisfied his judges; who, to do them
justice, bad a great esteepa for his learning and virtues,
and were not very desirous of condemning bim.
• This eminent man died of a suppression of urine, at the
abbey of St. Germain- des^Pres* in Dec. 1707. His great
merit bad procured bim, in 1701, the plaae of honorary
member of the academy of inscriptions. : Du Pin tells us.
thac " it would be difficult to give Mabillpn the praises he
deserves : the voice of the ptiMic, and the general esteem
of all the learned, are a much better commendation of him
4fr MABILLOHr.
r _
•
than any thing we* can say. His profound learning ap-
pears from his works : his modesty, humility, meekness,
and piety, are no less known to those who have had the
least conversation with him. His style is masculine, pure,
clear, and methodical, without affectation or superfluous
ornaments, and suitable to the subjects of which he has
treated*" Few men were more honoured by the notice of
the great than Mabillon, aad to this he was entitled both
by his virtues and his extensive learning. Pope Cle-,
. merit XI. paid him the compliment to write to father
Ruinart, expressing his hopes that the remains of such a
man had been interred with the honours due to him.
^ Every man of learning who goes to Paris," said cardinal
Colloredo, *' will ask where»you have placed him V% l
MABLY (Gabriel Bonnot, Abbe' de), a celebrated
French. political and miscellaneous writer, and brother to
the abbe Condillac, was born at Grenoble in March 1709,
and was educated in the Jesuits' college at Lyons. In his
youth he attached himself to his relation the cardinal de
Tencin, but never took any higher order in the church
than that of sub-deacon. On his coming into life, as it is
called, he had the -honour to be admitted, both as a rela-
tion and a man of letters, into the parties of madame d%
Tencin, so well "known for her intrigues and her sprightly
talents, who at that time gave dinners not only to wits, but
to politicians. Here madame de Tencin was so much
pleased with the figure Mably made in conversation with
Montesquieu and other philosophical politicians at her
table, that she thought he might prove useful to her bro-
ther, then entering on his • ministerial career. The first
service he rendered to the cardinal was- to draw out an
abridgment of all the treaties from the peace of West-
phalia to that time (about 1740) : the second service he ren-
dered his patron, was of a more singular kind. The cardi-
nal soon becoming sensible that he had not the talent of
conveying his ideas in council, Mably suggested to him.
the lucky expedient of an application to the king, that he
might be permitted to express his thoughts in writing, and
there can be little doubt that in this also he profited by the
assistance of his relative, who soon began himself to med-
dle in matters of state. In 1743 he was entrusted to nego-
* Gen. Diet.— Niceron, vol. VII. and X.— Life by Ruinart, 1708.— Le Cl*rt>
Bibl. Choisie. — Saxii Onomast.
M A B L Y. 4t
ciate privately at Paris with the Prussian ambassador, and
drew up a treaty, which Voltaire was appointed to carry to
Berlin. Frederick, to whom this was no secret, conceived
from this time a very high opinion of the abb6, and, as
Mably's biographer remarks, it was somewhat singular that
two men of letters, who had no political character, should
be employed on a negociation which made such an impor-
tant change in the state of affairs in Europe. The abb£
also drew up the papers which were to serve as the basis of
the negociation carried on in tbe congress at Breda in the
month of April 1746.
His success in these affairs bad nearly fisted him in poli-
tical life, when a dispute with the cardinal changed his
destination, and tbe circumstance does credit to his libe-
rality. The cardinal was not only minister of state, but
archbishop of Lyons, when the question was agitated re-
specting the marriages of protestants. The abb6 wished
him to view this question with the eyes of a statesman
only, but the cardinal would consider it only as a prince of
the Romish church, and as he persisted in this opinion,
the abb6 saw him no more. From this time he. gave him-
self up to study, without making any advances to fortune,
or to literary men. He always said he was more anxious
to merit general esteem than to obtain it. He lived a long
time on a small income of a thousand crowns, and an an-
nuity ; which last, on the death of his brother, he gave up
to" his relations. The court, however, struck with this dis-
interested act, gave him a pension of 2800 livres, without
tBe solicitation or knowledge of any of his friends. Mably
not only inveighed against luxury and riches, but showed
by his example that he was sincere ; and to these moderate
desires, he joined an ardent love of independence, which
he took every opportunity to evince. One day when a
friend brought him an invitation to dine with a minister of
state, he could not prevail on him to accept it, but at
length the abbe said he would visit the gentleman with
pleasure as soon as he heard that he was " out of office."
He had an equal repugnance to become a member of any
of the learned societies. The marshal Richelieu pressed
him much to become a candidate for the academy, and
with such arguments that he could not refuse to accept the
offer; but he had no sooner quitted the marshal than he
rah to his brother the abbe* Condillac, arfd begged he would
get himreleased, cost what it w^uld. " Why all this ob-
43 MABL Y-
stinacy ?,f said bia brother.-—" Wby !" rejoined the afeW,
Mabiy, " because, if I accept it 1 shall be obliged t? praise
the cardinal de Richelieu, which is contrary to nay princi-
ples, or, if I do not praise him, as I owe every thing to,
bis nephew, I shall be accused of ingratitude." la the
qame spirit, he acquired a bluntoess. of manner that was not
very agreeable in the higher circles, where he never failed
to take the part of men of genius who were poor, against
the ins pita of the rich and proud. His works, by which
the booksellers acquired large sum? of money, contributed
very little to his own finances, for he demanded no return,
but a few copies to give ag presents to bis, friends. He ap-
peared always dissatisfied with the state- of public affairs*-
aud had the credit of predicting the French revolution..
Political sagacity, indeed, was that on which be chiefly
rested his fame, and having formed his theory from certain
systems which be thought might be traced to the Greek*
and Romans, and even the ancient Gauls, he went as far
as most of his contemporaries in undervaluing the preroga-
tives of the crowi), and introducing a representative go-
vernment. In his latter works bis own mind appears to*
have undergone a revolution, and be proved that if he wa»
before sincere in bis notions of freedom, he was aow<
equally illiberal. After enjoying considerable reputation,.
and being considered as one of the most popular French
writers on the subjects of politics, morals, and history, he
died at Paris, April 23, 1785. The abb6 Barruel ranks?
him among the class of philosophers, who wished to be
styled the Moderates, but whom Rousseau calls the Iruon-
sistents. He adds, that " without being impious like a
Voltaire or a Condorcet, even though averse to their im-
piety, his own tenets were extremely equivocal. At times
his morality was so very disgusting, that it was necessary,
to suppose his language was ambiguous, and that he bad
been misunderstood, lest one should be obliged to throw
off all esteem for his character." Such at least was the
defence which Barruel heard him make, to justify himself
from the censures of the Sor bonne.
His works are, 1. " Parallele des Romains et des Fran-
jais," Paris, 1740, 2 vols. 12 mo. 2. " Le Droit public de
l'Euro'pe," 1747, 3 vols. 12mo. 3. "Observations su»
les Romains/9 2 vols. 12mo. 4. " Observations sur lee
Qrecs," 1751, 12mo, reprinted in 1766, with the title of
" Observations sur I'histoire de la Grece," £. " Des prtA-
M A B L Y. 4*
cipesdes negociatioos," 1757, 19mo. €. " Entretiens de
Phocion sur le rapport da la morale avec la politique,"
Arose. (Paris), 1763, 12mo, reprinted in 1783, S vols* 12mo,
and by Didot in 1795, 4to. Of this an English translation
was published by Mr. Macbean in 1770. It was once a
very popular work in America, where bis name was held
in the highest honour1, until be published his work on the
constitution of the United States after tbe peace of 1783,
when tbe Americans hung him in effigy as an enemy to
toleration and liberty. ' 7. " Observations sur I'bistoiie de
France," 1765, 2 vols* 12 mo. 8. " Entretiens sur PHis*
toire," 12 mo. This is the work by which be has been
most known in England, but in it, as well as bis other
works, be gives too great preference to the ancients over
tbe moderns. 9. " De la maniere dPecrire L'bistoire,"
Kehl, 1784, 2 vols. 13mo. Tbe whole of his works were
collected, with an eloge by the abb6 Brizard, in 15 vob.
8vo, 1794. In tbis are many pieces not enumerated above,
particularly his work on " Morals/9 and bis " Observations
on the Government and Laws of America," which last, as
we have noticed, destroyed his popularity in America. In
both are symptoms of decayed intellect, and that confu-
sion, of thought which is peculiar to men who have been
theorizing all their lives.1
MABUSE, or MABEUGE (JoHK de), a Hungarian
artist, was born at Maubeuge, a village in Hainault, in
1499, though in the Chronological Tables his birth is sop*
posed to have been in 1492. It is not known from whom
he derived bis knowledge of the art of painting ; but, isj
his youth, be was laborious in his practice, and his princi-
pal studies were after nature, by which he acquired a great
deal of truth in his compositions. To improve himself in
bis profession, he travelled to Italy, and became an artist
of great repute. He bad a good pencil, and finished his
pictures highly, with great care ; yet, notwithstanding his
studies in Italy, and the correctness of his design, he never
could arrive at tbe elegance of tbe Roman school;. Hia
manner was dry, stiff, and laboured ; but he was exceed*
ingly industrious to give a polished smoothness to his co-
louring. By king Henry VIII. of England he was em-
ployed to paint the portraits of .some of his children, which
gained him great reputation, as he finished them deli-
* Diet. Bat.-r-BarrqtPi Mem. of Jacobinism, vpl. II. p. 93&
4* MABUSE.
cately, and gave them spirit and liveliness ; and he painted
several others for the nohjlity who attended the court at
London. His paintings are consequently not unfrequent
in this country;
Many excellent works of Mabuse are at Middleburg;
one of the most capital is the altar-piece of the great
church, representing the descent from the cross. That
picture had been so highly commended, that it raised the
curiosity of Albert Durer ; and he took a journey to Mid-
dleburg, merely to be an eye-witness of the merit of that
performance. He viewed it with singular attention, and
expressed the pleasure it afforded him, by the praise he
bestowed upon it. But the picture which is accounted to
exrcel all his other productions, is the Virgin with the in-
fant Jesus, which he finished while he was retained in the
service of the marquis of Veren ; and in that subject he
contrived to pay an extraordinary compliment to his patron,
by making the heads of his lady and son the models for the
heads of his figures.
He is censured by all writers for his immoderate love of
drinking ; and it is confidently said, that having received,
by order of the marquis, a piece of brocade for a dress, to
appear in before the emperor Charles V. he sold it at a
tavern, and painted a paper suit so exceedingly like it,
that the emperor could not be convinced of the deception
till he felt the paper, and examined every part with bis
own hands. He died in 1562,1
MACARIUS (St.), the elder, a celebrated hermit of the
•fourth century, saJ4 to be a disciple of St. Antony, was
born at Alexandria, in the year 301, of poor parents. Hie
was bred a bakjsr,. which trade he pursued to the age of
thirty ; then, being baptized, he retired and took up a so-
litary life. He passed sixty years in a monastery in mount
Sceta, dividing his time between prayer and manual la-
bour. He died about the year 391. Fifty homilies in
Greek have been attributed to him, which were printed at
Paris in 1526, with Gregory Thaumaturgus, in* folio; and
in 2 vols. 8vo, at Leipsic, in 1698.*
MACARIUS (St.), the younger, another famous monk,
a friend of the former, and a native also of Alexandria,
had near 5000 monks under his direction. • He was per-
1 Pilkington.—Wal pole's Anecdotes.
3 Cave, vol. I«— Mosheiuu — Saxii Onomast. *
MACARIUS. 45
*ecuted by the Arians, and banished into an island where
there was not a single Christian, but where, he converted
,almost all the inhabitants by his preaching, and as some
*ay> hy his miracles. He died in the year 394 or 395.
"-The Rules of Monks/9 in 30 chapters, are attributed
to him, and a discourse by him on the " Death of the
Just," was published by Tollius, in his " Insignia Itine-
rarii Italici."1
MACAULAY (Catherine) or Graham, the name of
her second husband, was born in 1733, at OUantigh, in
Kent, the seat of her father, John Sawbridge, esq. She
appears to have had none of the regular education given
to youpg ladies of her rank, but had an early taste for pro-
miscuous reading, which at length terminated in a fond-
ness for history. That of the Romans is supposed to have
inspired her with the republican notions which she pro*
fessed throughout life, and in which she was probably en*
couraged by her brother the late alderman Sawbridge,
whose politics were of the same cast. In 1760 she married
Dr. George Macaulay, a, physician of London. Soon after
this, she commenced her career in literature, and in 1763
published the first volume, in 4to, of her " History of
England, from the accession of James L to that of the
Brunswick Line." This work was completed in 8 vols,
in 1783 ; it was read with some avidity at the period of its
publication, as the production of a female pen, but has
since fallen into so much disrepute,- as scarcely ever to be
inquired after. It was written in the true spirit of ranco-
rous republicanism, and was greatly deficient in that im-
partiality which ought to be the characteristic of true his-
tory. While in the height of her fame, Mrs. Macaulay
excited the admiration of Dr. Wilson, rector of St. Ste-
phen's, Walbrook, who in his dotage placed her statue,
while living, in the chancel of his church. This disgrace-
ful appendage, however, his successor thought himself
justified in removing. Having been left a widow, Mrs.
Macaulay in 177$ married Mr. Graham, a step which, from
the disparity of years, exposed 'her to much ridicule. In
the year 1785 she went to America, for the purpose of
visiting the illustrious Washington, with whom she had be-
fore maintained a correspondence. She died at Binfield,'
in Berkshire, June 22, 1791. Her works, besides the his-
* * * • *
1 Cave, vol. L— Saxii Ooomast.
■*« M A C A U L A Y,
tory already referred to, which may be regarded as the
yvincipal) are, M Remarks on Hobbes's Rudimerrt« of Go*
*ernment and Society j" " Loose Remarks on some <>f M*.
Hobbes'a Positions ;** the latter being an enlarged edition
of the former : tbe object of these is to shew the supe-
riority of a republican to a monarchical form of govern-
jnent In 1770, Mrs. Macanlay wrote a reply to Mr.
Burke's celebrated pamphlet entitled " Thoughts on the
Cteses of the Present Discontents ;" and in 1775 she pub-
lished " An Address to the People of England, Scotland,
and Ireland, on the present important Crisis of Affairs,**
She wrote also " A Treatise on the Immutability of Moral
Truth;'* which she afterwards re-published, with much
other original matter, under the title of " Letters on Edu-
cation," 1790. Her last publicatiou was " Observations
on tbe Reflections of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, on
the Revolution in France, in a letter to the Right Hon. the
Earl of Stanhope," 1790, 8vo. Many curious particular*
of this lady may be found in our authorities.1
MAC BRIDE (David), a distinguished physician, was
born at Ballymony, co. Antrim, on tbe 26th of April,
1726. He was descended from an ancient family of his
name in the shire of Galloway, in Scotland ; but his grand-
father, who was bred to the church, was called to officiate
at Belfast to a congregation of Presbyterians, and bis
father became the minister of Ballymony, where David
was born. Having received the first elements of his edu-
cation at the public school of this place, and served his
apprenticeship to* a surgeon, he went into the navy, first
in the capacity of mate to an hospital-ship, and subse-
quently in tbe rank of surgeon, in which station he re-
mained for some years preceding tbe peace of Aix-la-
Chapel le. At this period he was led from the frequent
opportunities of witnessing tbe attacks of scurvy which a
sea-faring life afforded him, to investigate the best method
of cure for that disease, upon which he afterwards pub-
lished a treatise. After the peace of Aix, Mr. Macbride
went to Edinburgh and London, where he studied anatomy
Under those celebrated teachers doctors Monro and Hunter,
and midwifery under Smellie. About the end of 1749, he
* Gort. Mag. vol. XL. p. 505 ; LXI. p. 569,^1 8. Sfe also Iad«x.~*Brft»
Critic, vol IV.— Baldwin's Literary Journal, vol. f. p. Ill, 284, 317, 377,
§62.— BoswelTs life of Johnson,— Wilkes's Life and Lepers, 4 volt. lSmoi
MACBRIDE. 4?
Muted m Dublin as a surgeon and accoucheur; but his
youth and remarkable bashf illness occasioned him to re*
itmttvi number of years in obscurity* little employed ; al-
though he was endeared to a smalt circle of friends by his
great abilities, amiable dispositions, and his general know-
ledge in all the branches of polite literature and the arts.
In 1764, he published bis " Experimental Essays," which
were received with great applause, and were soon trans*
lated into different languages; and the singular merit of
this performance induced the university of Glasgow to
confer the degree of doctor of physic on its author. The
improvement introduced by Dr. Macbride in the art of
tanning, by substituting lime-water for common water in
preparing ooze, procured him the honour of a silver medal
from the Dublin Society, in 1768, and of a gold medal of
considerable value from the society of arts and commerce
in London.
• For several years after Dr. Macbride obtained his de-
gree, he employed part of his time in the duties of a me-
dical teacher, and delivered at his own bouse a course of
lectures on the theory and practice of physic. These lec-
tures were published in 1772, in 1 vol. 4to, under the title
of" An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Medi-
cine," and a second edition appeared in 1777. It was'
translated into Latin, and published at Utrecht, in 2 vols.
$vo, in (774. This work displayed great acoteness of ob-
servation, and very philosophical views of pathology, and
contained a new arrangement of diseases, which was
deemed of so much merit by Dr. Cullen, that an outline
of it was given by that celebrated professor in his Com-
pendium of Nosology. Of the five classes, however, into
which Dr. Macbride distributed diseases, the genera and
species ef the first only were detailed.
The talents of Dr. Macbride were now universally known,
his character was duly appreciated, and his professional
emoluments increased, rapidly; for the public, as if to make
amends for former neglect, threw more occupation into
his hands than he could accomplish either with ease or
safety. Although much harassed both in body and mind,
so as to have suffered for some time an almost total inca-
pacity for sleep, he continued in activity and1 good spirits
until the -end of December, 1778, when an accidental cold
brought on a fever and delirium, which terminated his life
en the 13th of that month, in the fifty-third year of his
« M A C-C AG H W E L L*
age ; his death was sincerely lamented by persons of al|
ranks.1
MAC-CAGHWELL (Hugh), who in his Latin work*
called himself Cavellus, was titular primate of Armagh*
and a learned writer in defence of Duns Scotus, whose
opinions were generally embraced by his countrymen. He
was born in the county of Down, in Ireland, in 1571, ai|d
became a Franciscan friar. He studied at Salamanca, in
Spain, and afterwards for many years governed the Irish
Franciscan college at Louvain, dedicated to St. Anthony,
in the founding of which he had been instrumental. In
this college he was also professor of divinity, which office
he filled afterwards in the convent of Ara Coeli at Rome*
was definitor-general of his order, and at length advanced
by the pope to the see of Armagh ; but died at Rome, as
he was preparing for his journey to Ireland, Sept. 22,
1626, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. He was buried
in the church of St. Isidore, under a monumental stone,
and inscription, placed there by the earl of Tyrone. He
was reckoned a man of great learning, and one of the best
schoolmen of his time. His works, which consist chiefly
of commentaries on and a defence of Scotus, were in sub-.*
stance incorporated in Wading's edition of Scotus's works,
printed at Lyons, 1639, in 12 vols, folio.9
MACDIARMID (John), an ingenious young writer, was
the son of the rev. Mr. Macdiarmid, minister of Weem ia
the northern part of Perthshire, and was b#rn in 17.79.
He studied at the universities of Edinburgh and St. An-
drews, and was for some years tutor in a . gentleman's,
family. Such a situation is generally desired in Scotland
with the view of provision in the church, but as this was.
not Mr. Macdiarmid's object, he became desirous of visit-
ing the metropolis, and trying, his fortune in the career of
literary competition. He accordingly came to London in
1-801, and was soon in the receipt of a. competent income,
from periodical writing. His principal occupations of this
kind were, as editor of the St. James's Chronicle (a paper
in which some of the first scholars and wits of the last half
century have employed their pens), and as a reviewer in a
critical publication. On the commencement or rather the
renewal of the late war in 1802-3, his attention was di-
rected to our military establishment, and hejelinquisbed
<
1 Rees'f Cyclopedia. * Ware's Ireland, by Harris.
MACD1ARMID. W
Ms periodica* engagements to become the author of a vtof
elaborate work, entitled " An Inquiry into the System of
Military Defence of Great Britain/' 1803, 2 vols. 8vo.
This exposed the defects of the volunteer system, as welt art
of all temporary expedients, and asserted the superiority
of a regular army ; and had be lived, he would have doubt-
less been highly gratified to contemplate the army forrned
by the illustrious Wellington. His nertt Work was, an
" Inquiry into the Nature of Civil and Military Subordina-
lion," 1804, 8vo, perhaps .the, fullest disquisition which
the subject has received. He now determined to suspend
his theoretic labours, and to turn his attention to Works of
narrative. He accordingly wrote the " Lives of British
Statesmen/' 4 to, beginning with the life of sir Thomas
More^ This work has strong claims on public attention.
The style is perspicuous and unaffected ; authorities are
quoted for every statement of consequence, and a variety
of curious information is extracted from voluminous records*
and brought for the first time before the public view. His
political speculations were always temperate and libefah
He was indeed in all respects qualified for a work of this
description, by great powers of research and equal impart
Jiality. But unfortunately he was destined to enjoy, for a
short time only, the approbation with whidh bis work was
received. His health, at all times delicate, received in
November 1807, an irreparable blow by a paralytic stroke ;
and in February 1808 a second attack proved fatal, April 7.
Mr. D' Israeli has paid a just and pathetic tribute to his
memory tind talents in the work referred to below. l
MAC DONALD (AnUrew), another yourtg writer of
considerable talents, was the son of George Donald, a
gardener at Leith. The Mac he appended to ht$ name
when he came to London. He was born in 1757 at Leith,
where he was educated, chiefly by the assistance of bishop
Forbes. For some time he bad the charge of a chapel at
Glasgow, in which city he published a novel, entitled
u The Independent." He afterwards came to London,
and- wrote for the newspapers. His works were lively,
satirical, and humorous, and were published under the
signature of Matthew Bramble. He naturally possessed a
fine genius, and had improved his understanding with
classical and scientific knowledge ; but for want of con nee-
1 Atheneum, vol. III. — D' Israeli'* Calatoitics of Author?.
you xxi. e
SOt MACDONAL D.
tions in this southern part of the united kingdom/ and s
proper opportunity to, bring bis talents into notice, he was
always embarrassed, and had occasionally to struggle with
great and accumulated distress. He died in the 33d year
of his age, at Kentish Town, in Aug. 17V0, leaving a wife
and infant daughter in a state, of extreme indigence. A
volume of his " Miscellaneous Works" was published in
1791, in which were comprised, " The. fair Apostate, a
tragedy; "Love and Loyalty," an opera; "Princess. of
Tarejnto," a comedy ; and " Vimonda," a tragedy. l
MACE (Francis), a learned French priest, was born at
Paris about 1640, and pursued his divinity studies at the
university of hiq native city, where he took his degree^.
About this. time he; was appointed secretary to the council
for managing the domains and finances of the queen, con-
sort to Lewis XIV. ; and when he took holy orders, in 1 6&59
he wap immediately appointed canon and rector of the
church of St. Opportune, at Paris. He was a very dili-
gent student as well in profane as in sacred literature, and
was celebrated for his* popular talents as a preacher. He
died in 1721, leaving behind him a great number of works
that do honour to bis memory, of which we shall men tiou
" A chronological, historical, and moral abridgment o$
the Old and New Testament," in 2 vols, 4to ; t€. Scriptural
Knowledge, reduced into four tables ;" a French version
of the apocryphal " Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs;'*
of which Grosse teste, bishop of Lincoln, gave the first
Latin translation, . Grabe the first Greek edition, . from
MSS. in the English universities, and Whiston an English
version ; " The History of the Fiwr Ciceros," in which he
attempts to prove, that {be sons of Cicero were as illustri-
ous as their father* *
MACE .(Thomas), a practitioner on the lute, but more
distinguished among lovers of music by a work entitled
^.Music's Monument, or a Remembrancer of, the best
practical Musi*?, both divine and civil,, that has ever been
known to .have been in the world,V 1676, folio, was borrr
in 1613, and became one of the clerks of Trinity-college,
Cambridge. He does not appear to have held any con-
siderable rank among musicians, nor is he celebrated
either as a -composer or practitioner on the lute: yet his.
* ■ *
1 Biog. Dram.— Gent. Mag. vol. LX,— ^Israeli's Calamities.
' 2 Moreri.— <Dict Hist.— Rees'a Cyclopaedia.
MACE. 51
■
book is a proof that he was an excellent judge of the in-
strument;. and contains such variety of directions for the
ordering and management of it, and for performing on it,
as renders it a work of great utility. It contains also many
particulars respecting himself, many traits of an original
and singular character; and. a vein of humour which, far
from being disgusting, exhibits a lively portraiture of a
good-natured gossiping old man. Dr. Burney recommends
its perusal to all who have taste for excessive simplicity
and quaintness, and can extract pleasure from the sincere,
and unassembled happiness of an author, who, with ex-
alted notions of his subject and abilities, discloses to his
reader every inward working of self-approbation in as un-
disguised a manner, as if he were communing with himself
in all the plenitude of mental comfort and privacy. There
is a print of him prefixed to his book, from an engraving
of Faithorne, the inscription under which shews him to
have been sixty-three in 167.6: how long be lived after-
wards, is not known. He had a wife and children.1
MACEDO (Francis), a Portuguese Jesuit, and most
indefatigable writer, born at Coimbra, in 1596, quitted
that order after a time to take the habit of a cordelier/
He was strongly in the interest of the duke of Braganza
when he seized the crown of Portugal. Being sent to
Rome, he acquired for a time the favour of pope Alexan-
der the Vllth, and was preferred by him to several impor-
tant offices. The violence of his temper however soort
embroiled him with this patron, and he went to Venice,
where he disputed de omni scibiti; and gaining great repu-
tation, obtained the professorship of moral philosophy at
Padua. Afterwards, having .ventured to interfere in some
state matter at Venice, where he had been held very high,
he was imprisoned, and died in confinement, in 1681,. at
the age of 85. He is said, in the " Bibliotbeque Portu-
gaise," to have published 109 different works : and in one
of his own books he boasts that he had pronounced 53 pub-
lic panegyrics, 60 Latin discourses, and 32 funeral ora-
tions; that he had written 48 epic poenjs, 123 elegies,
^1 15 epitaphs, 212 dedications, 700 familiar letters, 26QQ
poems in heroic verse, 3000 epigrams, 4 Latin comedies.,
and had written or pronounced 150,000 verses extempo-
1 Hswfcias and Barney's Histories of Music, but especially the latter, m
Reel's Cyclopaedia,
£2
5* M A C t 1> O.
raneously. Yet the man who could declare all this, is
hardly known by name in the greater part of Europe ; and
of the enormous list of his printed works, not more than
fiVe are thought worthy of mention by the Writers of his
life. To write much, is far easier than to write well. The
works specified by his biographers are, 1. " Clavis Aa-
giistiniana liberi arbitrii,1' a book written against father,
afterwards cardinal Noris. The disputants were both
silenced by authority; but Macedo, not to seem vanquished,
dent his antagonist a regular challenge to a verbal cotttro*-
versy, which by some biographers has been mistaken for a
Challenge to fight. The challenge may be found in thm
"Journal Etranger" for June 1757. 2. 4< Schema Sane-
te Congregationis," 1676, 4to: a dissertation on the in-
quisition, full of learning and absurdity. 3. " Encyclo-
paedia in agon em 1 iterator um," 1677, folio. 4. •" Praise
df the French," in Latin, 1641, 4to; « book on the Jan-
senian controversy. 5. " Myrothechim Morale/9 4to. This
is the book in which be gives the preceding account of
what he had written and spoken, &c. He -possessed a
prodigious memory, and a ready command of language;
but his judgment and taste were by no means equal to his
learning and fecundity. '
MACEDONIUS, was an ancient heretic of the church
of Constantinople, whom the Arians made bishop of that
see in the year 342, at the same time that the orthodox
contended for Paul. This occasioned a contest, which rose
at length to such a height, that arms were taken up, and
many lives lost. The emperor Constantius, however, put
* an end to the dispute, by banishing Paul, and ratifying the
nomination of Macedonius; who, after much opposition,
which ended at the death of Paul, became peaceably and
quietly settled in his see, and might have remained so had
.he been of a temper to be long peaceable and quiet in any
situation : he soon fell into disgrace with Constantius, for
acting the part of a tyrant, rather than a bishop. What
made bitn still more disliked by the emperor; was his caus-
ing the body of Con stan tine to be translated from the
temple of *he Apostles to that of Acacius the martyr* This
also raised great tumults and confusion among the peo-
ple, some highly approving, others loudly condemning,
the. procedure of Macedonius ; and the parties again taking
* Gen. Diet.— Niceroo, yo1. XXXI,— -Moreri.— Antonio Bibl. Hisp.
M A C E D O N I US. $$
up arms, a great number on both aide* were slain. : Mac**
doaiuo, however, notwithstanding the emperor's displde^
sure, sthieb be bad incurred by his seditious «rid tUTbniefat
practices contrived te a opport himself by bm party, which
be bad lately increased by taking hi the tsemi -Arians \ tfll
at length* imprudently offending two of bm bishops, they
procured his deposition by the council of Constantinople^
in the year 359. He was so enraged at this, as to resotofe
to revenge the insok by broaching a new heresy. He began
to teach, therefore, that the Holy Spirit had no resem*
Uance to either the Father or the son, but was only a merfe
creature, one of God's ministers, ***d somewhat more e»-
jsellent than the angels. ThetHsaffeeted bishops subscribed
at once to this opinion ; and to the Arians it e4Uid not bt
unacceptable. According to St. Jerome, even the Donatists
of Africa joined with them : for he says, that Dftnatus of
Carthage wrote a treatise upon the Holy Ghost, agreeable
to the doctrine of the Arians; and the outward shew of
piety, which the Macedonians observed, drew over to their
party many other* One Maratorus, who had been for*
meriy a treasurer, having amassed vast riches, forsook Ms
secular life, devoted himself entirely to the seraoe of *tfcte
poor and sick, became a monk; and afeiast adopted *he
Macedonian heresy, which he disseminated veey extent
a+veiy, > In this he succeeded in most cases by hit rictp*^
which, being freely and properly distributed, ware found
of mono force in effecting conversions than- all his Argu-
ments i mud from this,m*n, as Socrates relates, the Mac«*>
dpnians were called Maratoriaas. They were also called
Pnenmatomachi, 4W persons who were .enemies of the Hoty
Ghost. The report of the Macedonian heresy being spread
over fcgypty Use bishop Serapsoo advertised Afchatjasiti*
m£ ity who then was leading a maaastie life, and lay hid i*
She desert; and this celebrated saint vras the first wb|>
confoted iuJ j
MACER {JEmum)9 an ancient Latin poet, was bore
at Verooa, and flourished about the year 24 B. G. Etoifr-
bcus relates, that be died a few year* after Virgil. • Ovid
speaks of a poem by him, en the nature and qtiality of
birds, serpents, and herbs; which, he says, Macer, being
•hen. very oidt had often read to him, a ad he is said also tfr
iWe written a supplement to Hosher; bqt the work by
* MbffecidL— Socrat. Hist. Ecclel. lib. ii.-~ftftreri.
i
H . » M A C E R. .
which his name is chiefly known, first printed at Naples in
1477, 4to, and often since under the tide " De virtu tibus
Herbarum," is unquestionably, spurious, and the produc-
tion of a much later writer. By some it is ascribed to
Odo or Odobonus, a French physician of the ninth cen-
tury. This barbarous poem is in Leonine verse, and va-
rious manuscripts of it are in our public libraries of Ox?
ford, Cambridge, the British Museum, &c. It was, ac-
cording to Dr. Pulteney, in common use in England before *
the sera of printing, and was translated into English by
John Lelamar, master of Hereford-school, who lived about
1473. Even Linacre did. not disdain to employ himself on
this work, as in " Macer's Herbal practysed by Dr. Linacro,
translated out of Latin into English." Lond. J 542,- 12 mo.
This jejune performance, adds Dr. Pulteney, which is writ-
ten wholly on Galenical principles, treats on the virtues of
not more than eighty- eight simples. 1
. . MACFAKLANE (Robert), a political and miscella-
neous writer, was born in Scotland in 1734, and educated
in the university of Edinburgh. He came to London at
an early period of life, and for many years kept an aca-
demy of considerable reputation at Walthamstow. , He was
also. much engaged in the political disputes at the begin*
<ning of the reign of his present majesty, and concentrated
bi$* sentiments on them, in a " History of the Reign of
fJeorge III." an octavo volume, which was published in
1770. A dispute occurring between him and his book-
seller, the late. Mr. Thomas Evans of Paternoster- row,
the latter employed another person to continue the history,
of which vol. II appeared in 1782, and vol. III. about
•J 794. Mr. Macfarlane being then reconciled to his em-
ployer, published a fourth volume. The whole is com-
piled from the journals of the day, and cannot, either in
<ppiht of style or matter, entitle Mr. Mactarlane, or the
other writers, to the character of historians. In early life,
also, he was editor of the Morning Chroniclq and London
Packet, in which he gave the debates with great accuracy
and at. considerable length, and wrote many, letters and
papers under fictitious names, in favour.of the politics of
the opposition Being an enthusiastic admirer of Ossian,
and an assistant, as has been said, to Mr. Macpherson in the
arranging and publishing of these poems, he>conceived the
1 Vossius Hist. Lat. — Fabric, Bib]. Lat.— Haller Bibl. Bot. — Pulteney'i
Sketcbet.
M A C F A R L A N E. 55
very preposterous design of translating tberh into Latin
verse. Accordingly, in 1769, he published " Temdra," as
a specimen, and issued, at the same time; proposals -for
publishing, the whole by subscription, in one vol u toe, 4to1
but few subscribers appearing, he desisted: from -hts plarf,
During the latter years of his life, he resumed it, and
was employed in it at the time of his death: Curiosity ted
him one evening to witness the triumphs of an election*
mob coming from Brentford, when he fell under a carriage*
and was so much hurt as to survive only half an hour.
This happened on Augusts, 1304. He had at this time
in' the press, an " Essay on the authenticity ofOssian anp
his Poems.0
In 1797, Mr. Macfaflane published "Ah Address to the
people of the British Empire, on the present posture and
future prospect of public affaire," by which it appears thai
he bad got rid of most of his former politicalpr^judiees.
He likewise formally disclaim the second and third vo-
lumes of the " History of George III." 'and says, that eteft
tbe first h£s been so disfigured ill a third edition, that' fife
Will no longer claim it as his own. In ISOl, he published
" George Buchanan's Dialogue, concerning the rights of
tbe crown of Scotland. Translated iftto 'English : with two
dissertations prefixed: one archaeological, inquiring into
the pretended identity of the Getes and Scythians, of thi
Getes and Goths, and of the. Goths and Scots : arid the
other historical, vindicating tbe character of Buchanan
as a historian : and containing some specimens of his poetry
in English verse,'* 8vo. In this work there is much curious
discussion. '
MACHAULT (John de), a Jesuit, was born at Paristiti
J 65!, and was professor of rhetoric in his society, doctor
of divinity, and rector of the Jesuits college at Rouen,"
then of the college de Clermont at Paris. He died March
15, 1619, aged 58. He published under the* name of
Gall us, or Le Cocq, which was bis mother's name, "Jo.
Galli jurisconsulti uotationes in Historian) Thuani," In-
goldstadt, 1614, 4to, a scarce volume, because suppressed
in that year, as pernicious, seditious, and full, of falsehoods
and calumnies against the magistrates and officers of the
king. Machault also translated from the Italian, a*" His-
tory of transactions in China and Japan, taken from letters
* Gent Ma* vol. 1XX1V. he.
U VSA'CHAOL T.:
piittpn J $24 and 1622," Paris, 1627, ftvo.— Job* Baf*
TIST D£ MACHAfrvr, another Parisian Jesuit, who died May
$$, 1640, aged 29, after having been rector of the colleges
at Nevers aod Rouen, left " Gesta i.Soe. Jes. in Regno
Sinen^i, jEthiopico, et Tibetano;" *nd some other works of
the historical kind, but of little reputation.-^-JAME8 B*
jMUcwwvr, a Jesuit also, born 1600, at Paris, taught ethics
apd philosophy, and was afterwards rector at Alencon, Or*
Jean?, and Caen. He died 1690, at Paris. His works are,
# J)e Missionibus Paraguariae et aliis in America meridio*
Kli ;" « Pe rebus Japonicis ;" " De Provinciis Goana,
al^btrica, et aliis ;" " De Regno Cochineinensi ;" " De
Missione Religiosorum Societatis J. in Perside ;" ** De
Ifogno Madurensi, Tangoreosi," &c*
MACHIAVEL (Nicholas), a celebrated political writer
?nd historian, was born of a good family, at Florence, in
1469. He first distinguished himself as a dramatic writer,
bpt bis comedies are not formed on the purest moralr, nor
lire the verses by which he gained some reputation about
the samp time, entitled to much praise, Sodn after he
Jjad entered public life, either from the love of liberty, or
* spirit of faction, he displayed a restless and turbulent
disposition, which not only diminished the respect due to
tys abilities, but frequently endangered his personal safety.
De iovplved himself in the conspiracy of Capponi and Bos-
coli, in consequence of which he was put to the torture,
fcufepdured it without uttering any confession, and was
set qt liberty by Leo X. against whose house that conspi-
racy had been formed. Immediately after the death of
Leo, be entered into another plot to expel the 'cardinal de
J^edici from Florence- Afterwards, however, he was raised,
to high honours in the state, and became secretary to the
republic of Florence, the duties of which office be per*
formed with great fidelity. He was likewise employed in
embassies to king Lewis XII. of France ; to the emperor
Afa*imilian ; to the college of cardinals; to the pope,
Julius IL, and to other Italian princes. Notwithstanding
the revenues which mint have accrued to him in these im-t
portant situations, it would appear that the love of money
fcad no influence. on his mind, as he died in extreme f>o»
-**rty in June 1527. Besides his plays, his chief works
*re, h "The Golden Ass," in imitation of Lucian an4
1 Mpreri.— Diet. Bi&U-^Lp Lgpf BibL Hptqriqae.
NACHUVEL 17
Aptdeiuj ; 2. " ^Discourses on the fcnt Decade of hmy ?*.
3, « A History of Florence ;" 4. u The life of Castruccie ,
Gaatracani ;" *< " A Treatise on the Military Art >" *. " A
Treatise on the Emigration of the Northern Nations ;n
7. Another entitled » Del Principe^," die Prince. Tbia
famous treatise, which was first published in 15 i 5, audio*
leaded as a sequel to hi*, discourses on the, first decad*
pf Livy, ha* created very discordant opinions between
critics of apparently equal skill and judgment, some her*
iag considered bkn as the friend of truth, liberty, and *ir>
tuet »d others as the Jfedrocat* of fraud and. tyranny.
Moat generally "the Prince'' has been viewed in the
fetter light, ail its maxims and counsels being directed to
the maintenance of power, however acquired, and by any
wean*; and one .reason for. this opinion is perhaps natural
enough, namely, its being dedicated to a nephew of pope
Leo X, printed at Rome, re-paUisbed in, other Italian
pities* and long read with attention, and even applause*
without censure or reply. On the other, hand it has been
thought impossible that Nechiavel, who was bom under a
republic* who was employed aa one of its. sateetaries, who
performed so many important embassies, and who in bit
pepversatiee always dwelt en the gloinoos actions ef Sratns
and Cassiua, should have foamed sneb a system against the
liberty and happiness, of .mankind. Hence it has frequently
^een urged on his behalf, that it was not .his intention ttf
•Uggest wise and faithful counsels, ibut to represent in. the
darkest oolouis the schemes of. a tyrant, and thereby ea~
oitfe odium against biro. Even lord Bacon seems .to be ef
this opinion. The historian of ■ Leo , constdem bis conv
duot in a different point, of view; and indeed all idea
of his being ironical in this work k dissipated by thf
feet, mentioned by Mr. Rpaooe, that ? many of the most
exceptionable doctrines in M The Prince, M are also to be
found in bis "Discourses," where it cannot ba. pretended
that be had any- indicect pqcpeae in -view ; and in the .latter
fett baa in .some iastannes referred fca the former for the
fartber elucidation of bis opinions* In popular opiate*
11 The JPrincen has. affixed ta bis naoae a lasting stigma^
ajtd Maohiaaeltsm haa long been a received appellation
for perfidious and • infamous, politics. Of the biatowcai
writings of Machiavel, the " Life of Castmccio Castracani"
is considered as partaking too much of the character off
romance » but his " History of Florence/' comprising the
5S MACHIAVEL.
events of that republic, between 1205 and 1494, Which
was written while the author sustained the office of- histo-
riographer of the republic, although, not always accurate
in point of fact, may upon the whole be reaa with both
pleasure and advantage. It has been of late years disco-
vered that the diary of the most important events in Italy
from 1492 to 1512, published by the Giunti in 1568,
under the name of Biagio Buonaccorsi, is in fact a part of
the notes of Machiavel, which he had intended for a con-
tinuation, of his history; but which, after his death, re-
mained io the bands of his friend Buonaccorsi. > This is a
circumstance of which we were not aware when we drew
up the account of this author under the name EsPERiENTfe.
In English we have a translation of the whole of Ma*
chiavel's works by Farneworth, and editions of them are
common in almost every language.1
MACKENZIE (Sir George), an ingenious and learned
writer, and eminent lawyer of Scotland, was descended
from an ancient and noble family, his father Simon, Mac*
kenzie being brother to the earl of Seaforth. He was
born at Dundee, in the county of Angus, in 1636, and
gave early proofs of an extraordinary genius, having gone
through the usual classic authors, at ten years of age. He
was then sent to the universities of Aberdeen and St. An<*
drew's, where he finished. his studies in logic and philoso-
phy before he had attained his sixteenth year. After this,
he turned his thoughts to the civil law, and to increase his
knowledge of it, travelled into France, and became a close
student in the university of Bourges, for about three years.
On his return home, he was called to the bar, became an
advocate in 1656, and gained the character of an eminent
pleader in a few years.
While he made the law his profession and chief study,
he cultivated a taste for polite literature ; and produced
some works which added not a little to his reputation. In
U560, came out his "Aretino, or serious Romance," in
which he shewed a gay and exuberant fancy. In 1663, he
published his " Religio Stoici;" or a short discourse upon
several divine and moral subjects, with a friendly -address
to the fanatics of all sects and sorts. This was followed,
in 1665, by " A Moral Essay," preferring solitude to pub^
i.
i Tiraboschi.— . Moreri.— Gioguent Hist. Litt, D'lulic— Roscoe's Leo.— Suit
OnomasticoD.
MACKENZIE. 59
tie employment, and all its advantages; such as fame,
command, riches, pleasures, conversation, &c. This was
answered by John Evelyn, esq. in another essay, in which
the preference was given to public employment. Irfl667,
he printed his w Moral gallantry ;" a discourse, in which
he endeavours to prove, that the point of honour, setting
afcide all other ties, obliges men to be virtuous ; and that
there is nothing so mean and unworthy of a gentleman, as
vice : to which is added, a consolation against calumnies,
shewing how to bear them with chearfulness and patience.
Afterwards be published "The moral history of frugality,"
with its opposite vices, covetousness, niggardliness, pro-
digality, and luxury, dedicated to the university of Ox-
ford; and M Reason," an essay, dedicated to the hon.
Robert Boyte, .esq. All these works, except "Aretino,"
were collected and printed together at London, in 1713,
Svo, under the title of " Essays upon several moral sub-
jects:"'and have been ^regarded as abounding in good
sense and wit, although upon the whole the reasoning is
rather superficial/ Besides these essays, which were the
production of such hours as could be spared from his pro-
fession, be was the author of a play and a poem. The
poem is entitled " Caelia's country-house and closet;'*
and in it are the following lines upon the earl of Montrose:
€< Montrose, his country's glory, and its shame,
Ctesar in all things equall'd, but his fame, &C."
Which our predecessor quoted principally to shew, that
Pope himself, infinitely superior as his talents in poetry
were, did not disdain to imitate this author, in his " Essay
on Criticism :"
" At length Erasmus, that great injur'd name,
The glory of the priesthood, and the shame, &c.'
--• Soon after Mr. Mackenzie had been employed as coun-
sel for the marquis of Argyle, he was promoted to the
office of a judge in the criminal court', which he discharged
with so much credit and reputation, that he was made
king's advocate in 1674, and one of the lords of the privy,
council in Scotland. He was also knighted by bis majesty.
In these offices he met with a great deal of trouble on ac-
count of the rebellions whichftiappened in his time ; and
' his office of advocate requiring him to act with severity,
he did not escape being censured for having, in the deaths
of some particular persons who were executed, stretched
$9 M A C K E N Z I &
t
tbe tows too (p. Tbi* alludes to t^e tutted trials of B^illie
of Jerviswoo^ that of the $arl of Argyle, and the prcffeptH
tipns Against MitcheJ and Learmonth, events winch make
a great figure in the history of that unhappy period ; but
in the opinion of the late lord Woodhoaselet, " hi* own
defence will fully justify bis conduct io the breast of every
man whose judgment is not perverted by tbe same preju-
dices, hostile to all good government, which led those uh
fatuated offenders to the doom they merited/' . (See
Mackenzie's Works, Vindication of the government of
Charles II.)
Opon tbe abrogation of tbe penal laws by James II. sir
George, though he had always been remarkable for bis
loyalty, and censured for bis zeal, thought himself obliged
to resign bis post ; being convinced that be could -not dis-
charge the duties of it at ttoat .crisis with a good conscience*
Be wfis succeeded by sir John Dalrymple, who, however,
did not long continue in it ; fqt that unfortunate prince
being convinced of bis error, restored sir George to bis
post, in which he continued until tbe revolution, and then
resigned it He could no*; agree to tbe measures and terms
pf the revolution ; be hoped that the prince of Orange
would have returned to bis own country* when matters were
adjusted between the king and bis subjects; but finding
that the event proved otherwise, he cjuitted all bis em-
ployments in Scotland, and retired to England, revolving
to spend the remainder of bis days in the university of Ox-
ford. He accordingly arrived there in September 1689,
and prosecuted his studies in the Bodleian library, being
admitted a student there by a grace passed in the congre-
gation June 2, 1690. In tbe spring following he went to
London, where he contracted a dtsbfder, of which be died
May 2, lfcfrl. His bodyHvas conveyed by land to Scot-
)and, and interred with great pomp a«d solemnity at Edin-
burgh, his fuueraLbeing attended by aH tbe council, no*
bility, college, of justice, eotlegeof physicians* university*
cte*$y* g^Hry* end a jpeater concourse of people than
e*er was w^n on any -similar o ocas ion. •
Besides the moral piece* me*uioaed above, be wtotese*
feral works to illustrate the laws aed customs of his eount
try, to vindicate tbe monarchy from tbe restless centri*
*ances and attacks of those whoas be esteemed its enemies,
%nd to maintain tbe honour and glory of Scotteadi To tl»
lustrate the laws and wttpma of his country, be pabsiafaed
MACKENZIE. rfi
•V A Discourse upon the laws and customs of $c$*l*fltt iri;
raattcm erimittaV* 1GT4, *to. •• Ide* ekquenti* fertensi*
hodterose, una cum actione forensi e* maqtraque jari*
parte," 1681) dvo. " Invitations of Che Itotf** of Scot*
land," 1684, 8vo. " Observations upon the WW of par*
liaikieiit," 1 086, folio. Besides these, several other ttigak
use* of law are inserted in his works, printed <tt Edinburgh;
1716, in 9 vol* folio. In Vindication <rf nrtmttrchyj hef
wrote his " Jtis regiurto ; or the just arid solid> fouridatldrt*
of monarchy in general, and* more* especially- of the mo-
narohy of Scotland ; maintained agaitot Btichanan, Naph-
tfarii, l>oieman, Milton, &c.,v Land. 16S4; 8*o.- Thif
book being dedicated and presented by tlieaiicfafor to the
university of Oxford* he received a1 letter of thanks from
the convocation. With the same view he puMifehetf hi*
* Discovery of the fanatic plot," printed' at Edinburgh; in
1684, folio J and his «< Vindication of the government *f
Scotland during the reign of Charles- II.'9 AUothe w Me-
thod of Proceeding against Criminals and Fariatieal Cove*
nanters," 1694, 4to. The piece* which he pubfahed in
honour of Ms nation, were as follow i w OttteiHtttioh* oft
the Lawsand Customs of Nations as to Precedency, with the
Science of heraldry, treated as a part' df the divillkw of
nations ; wherein reason* are given for its principles, and
etymologies for its harder terms," 1680, folio. " A De*
fence of the Antiquity of the' Royal Line of Scotland-, with
a trtre account when the' Scots were governed by the kings
in the Isle of Britain," 1685, 8vo. This was Written in
answer to " An historical Account of Churcb-Gorernment
as it was in Great Britain and Ireland, when they Art t re-
ceived the Christian religion, " by Lloyd, bisbdjp of : Sfc
Asapto Str George's defence was published in Jwife 1888;
but before it came out it was. animadverted tfpon; by 0ft
Stillmgfleet, who had seen it in maflqtfertyt in the* preface
to his "'Origines Britannic*." Sir George refilled the
year following, in a1 piece entitled "The Anti^rtty of the
Royal Line of Scotland farther delved And defended
against the exceptions lately offered by Dt. StiHingfleet,
in his Vindication of the Bishop of St. Afcafph;** and here
the controversy appears to 'have ended.1 Itr is rerriatkaMe;
however, that sir George> books were translated into Latin,
printed at Utrecht in 1689, and then presented to W\U
liam-Henry prince of Orange, who wrote twtyir^ry polite
letters of thanks to him for his perfortunartce.
t»* MACKENZIE.
Among the instances of this author's zeal for his Country,*
it is necessary to mention his founding of the lawyer's li--
brary at Edinburgh} an 1689. This, which is now known:
by the name of the advocate's library, was afterwards stored- -
with variety of manuscripts, relating particularly to the
antiquities of Scotland, and with a fine collection of books/
in all sciences, classed in that excellent order, which he-
prescribed in an. elegant Latin oration, pronounced upqn
the opening of it, and printed apiong bis works.
. Judging, says a late, elegant and judicious writer, from
the writings of sir .George Mackenzie, his talents appear
to have, been rather splendid than solid. He certainly
possessed uncommon assiduity and activity of mind, as the
number and variety of his compositions testify ; and per-
haps the superficial manner in which be has treated many
of those subjects foreign to his profession, is the less to
^e wondered at, in a man whose thne was so occupied in
professional duties. The obscurity and confusion that are
discernible in some of his juridical discussibns, may- have
arisen in a great measure from the rude, unmethodized,
and almost chaotic state of the law of Scotland, both civil
and criminal, in his days. On one account alone, although
every other merit were forgotten, sir George Mackenzie
is entitled to respect as a lawyer. Re was the first who
exploded from the practice of the crimiual courts of Scot-
land that most absurd and iniquitous doctrine, that no de-
fence was to be admitted in exculpation from a criminal
indictment which was contrary to the libel (indictment) ; as,
if John were accused of having murdered James, by giving
him a mortal wound with a sword, it was not allowable for*
John to prove in his defence, that the wound was not given
in any vital part, and that James died of a fever caught
afterwards by contagion*
As an. elegant scholar, lord Woodhouselee ranks sir
George among the ornaments of his country. His Latin
compositions are correct and ornate in no common degree.
His style is evidently formed on the writings of Cicero,
and the young Pliny ; and though a little tinctured with
the more florid eloquence of Quinctilian, is entirely free
from the false embellishments and barbarisms of the writers
of the lower ages. His " Idea Eloquentiae forensis," is a
masterly tractate, which enumerates and eloquently de-
scribes all the important requisites of a pleader, and gives
the most judicious precepts for the cultivation of the
M A C K E N Z I E. ■„. 65
various excellencies and the avoiding of theordtnary defects
of forensic eloquence. His " Cbaracteres quorundam apud
Scotos Advocatorum," evince a happy talent of painting,
not only the groat and prominent differences of ndanaer in
ttje pleaders of his age, but of discriminating, with sin*
gular nicety, and in tbe most appropriate terms, the more
minute and delicate shades of distinction, which a critical
judgment alone could perceive, and which could be de-
lineated only by a master's band. It is, adds lord Wood-
houselee, < highly to the honour of this eminent man,, that
he appears to have possessed a true sense of the dignity of
his profession ; and that he perpetually endeavoured, as
much by bis example as by bis precepts, to mark the con-
trast between tbe prosecution of the law, as a liberal and
ingenuous occupation, and its exercise (too common) as a
mercenary trust.1
.MACKENZIE (George), viscount Tarbat, and first
earl* of Cromerty, a person eminent for bis learning and
for his abilities as a statesman, was descended from a branch
of the family of Seaforth. He succeeded to the family
esbpe on the death of his father sir John Mackenzie, and
also to. his unshaken^ fealty for Charles II. during whose
exile he had a commission to levy what forces be could
procure, to promote the restoration. After that event, heA
was made one of the senators of the college of justice, clerk
register of the privy council, and justice-general, an office
which had been hereditary in the family of Argyle, till it
was surrendered in the preceding reign. James II. made
him a baron and viscount, but on the abdication of that
monarch, whom it would appear he had favoured too much,
he lost his office of lord-register for some time* until king
William III. was pleased to restore it in 1692, being no
stranger to his abilities. In queen Anne's reign, 1702, he
was constituted secretary of state, and the following year
was advanced to the dignity of earl of Cromerty. He died
in 1714, at the age of eighty-three, or, according to ano-
ther account, eighty-eight.
Douglas describes him as a man of singular endowment*}
great learning, well versed in the laws and antiquities of
his country, and an able statesman. Macky, or- rather
Davis, adds, that " he had a gjteat deal of wit, and was the
1 Life prefixed to his Works, fol.— - Lord Woodhouselee's Life of Lord Karnes.
*— Laing^ History of ScoUaud.— -Burnet's Own Timet. —Gent. Mas* toLLXM.
p. 519.
44 M A C K £ tt t I t.
pieasaiitett coiftpanion in- the work! ; had been very Hand*
iotoe ill his perto* ; was tall and ftur complexioned ; rtmch
esteemed fey die rOyal SOtoiety, & great rta^te* in philoso-
phy* and weH revived as a writer try men of lettefs:'*
Bishop Nicoldon notices a copy of the Continuation of
Fonkm's " Seotichronicob" in the band- Writing 6f tbii
faobleman, whom he terms "a judicious preserver of the
antiquities of bis* Country*' He wfote, I. " A Vindica-*
tion of Robert, the third king of Scotland, from the! impu-
tation of bastardy, &c." Edit). 1695, 4to. 2. " Synopsis
Apocaty ptica ; or a short and plain Explication and Appfi*
cation of DaftiePs Prophecy, and St. John's Revelation, irt
convent with it, and consequential to it; by 6. E. of C.
tracing in the steps of the admirable lord Napier of Mer^
chttton," Edin. 1 708. 3. « An historical Account of tb*
Conspiracies, by the earls of Gourie, and Robert Logan
*>f Beatalrig, against king James VI. of glorious memory,
&*." Edin. 1713, Svo. Mr.GdUgh has pointed out ttire*
papers on natural curiosities, by . lord Cromerty, in the
* Philosophical Transactions ;" and" A Vindication,^ bf
him, of the reformation of the church of Scotland, #itH
•ofitto accoont of the Records, was printed in the Scoti*
Magazine, for A tigtitt 1802, front a MS. in the possession
*tf Mr. Constable, bookseller, of Edinburgh.1
■' MACKLIN (Charles), the oldest actor, and perhaps
the oldest man of his time, is entitled to some notice in
this woric, although his fame seems to have been derived
principally from his longevity. He is said to have been
born in the county of West Meath in Ireland, May 1,
1690. His family name was Mac-Laughlin, which, on his
coming to London, he changed to Mackliti. He was em-
ployed in early- life, as badgeman in Trinity college, Dub-
lin, until his twenty-first year, when he came to England,
wid associated With' some strolling comedians, after which
he werit back to his situation in Trinity college. In 1716
be again came to England, and appeared as an actor in the
theatre, Lincoln's-inn-fields, where, in Feb. 1741, he esta-
blished his fame by his performance of Shy lock in the
u Merchant of Venice,'* in which he followed nature, truth,
and propriety, with such effect, as to distance all other
performers through the whole course of his long life. It
1 Park's edition of lord Orford's Royal and Noble Author*. — EJougUs'i Pair*
M A C K L 1 N. 65
ftas* however), the only character in which be was pre-emi-*
Dent, and jail bis subsequent* attempts in characters of im-
portance, particularly in tragedy, were unsuccessful, or; at
least, displayed, no exclusive merit The remainder of his
life consists of a series of tragi-comic adventures, involving1
the history of the stage for a considerable period* of Which
it would be impossible to give a satisfactory abridgment;
We therefore refer to our authorities, where his life is de^
tailed- with great minuteness, and In a manner highly in-
teresting to those, to whom the vicissitudes of the theatres/
and the wit of the greenroom, are matters of importance.
He continued on the stage until 1789, when a decay of
memory obliged him to take a last leave of it. In 1791, a
sum of money Was collected by public subscription for thg
purchase of an annuity, which rendered his circumstances
easy. During the last years of his life, his understanding
became more and more impaired, and in this state be died
July 1 1, 1797, at the very great age of lot, if the date
usually given of his birth be correct. As a dramatic writer*
he appears to much advantage in his " Man of the World'*
and " Love Alaitfode," which still retain their popularity*
He was a man of goopV understanding, which he had im-
proved by a course of reading, perhaps desultory, but suffi-
cient to enable him to bear his part in conversation very satis-
factorily. While his memory remained, his fund of anecdote
was immense* and rendered bis company highly agreeable.
His age* however, had in his opinion, conferred a dictatorial
power, and it was not easy to argue with him, without ex-
citing his irascible temper, which shewed itself in much
coarseness of expression. He is said to have been in his
better days, a tender husband, a good father, and a steady
friend. . By his firmness and resolution in supporting the
rights of his theatrical brethren, they were long relieved
from^a species of oppression to which they bad been igno-
miniously subjected for many years, whenever the caprice
or malice of their enemies chose to exert itself. We al-»
lude, says one of his biographers, "to the prosecution!
which be commenced and carried on against a certain! set
of insignificant beings, who, calling themselves The Towtf,
used frequently to disturb the entertainments of the theatre,
to the terror of the actors, as well as to the annoyance and
disgrace of the publick." It is almost needless to add that
this advantage has been again lost to his brethren, by the
loieration recently granted to scenes #f brutality in the
Vol, XXL F
66 M A C K L I N.
theatres both of London and Dublin, and which has placed
them at the mercy of the lowest and most unprincipled of
the populace.1
MAC KNIGHT (James), a learned Scotch clergyman,
was born at Irvine, in Argyleshire, in 1721, educated at
the university of Glasgow, and afterwards, as was the cus- »
torn at that time, heard a course of lectures at Leyden.
After his return he was admitted into the church, and in v
May 1753, was ordained minister of Maybole, on which
living he continued during sixteen years. Here he com-
4 posed his two celebrated works, the " Harmony of the Gos-
pels,9' and his " New Translation of the Epistles," both
which were very favourably received, and greatly advanced
his reputation in the theological world. In 1763 he pub-
lished a second edition of the " Harmony," with the addi-
tion of six discourses on Jewish antiquities ; and a third
appeared in 1804, in 2 vols, 8vo. In 1763 also be pub- %
lished another work of great merit, entitled " The Truth
of the Gospel History." On account of these publications,
the university of Edinburgh conferred upon him the de-
gree of D.J). In 1769 he was translated to the living of
Jedburgh, and after three years, became one of the mi*
nisters of Edinburgh, which situation he retained during
the remainder of his useful life. He was particularly ac-
tive and zealous in promoting charitable institutions, es-
pecially the fund established by act of parliament, for a
provision to the widows and fatherless children of ministers
in the church of Scotland. As an author, Dr. Macknight
occupied a considerable portion of his time in the execu-
tion of his last and greatest work on the apostolical epistles.
This was the result of an almost unremitting labour during
thirty years : he is said to have studied eleven hours in
each day, and before the work was sent to the press, the
whole MS. had been written five times with his own hand.
A specimen was puhlished in 1787, containing his version
of the epistles to tbeThessalonians; and in 1795 the whole
appeared in four vols. 4to, under the title of " A New Li-
teral Translation from the original Greek of all the Apos-
tolical Epistles ; with a commentary, and notes, philoso-
phical, critical, explanatory, and practical,"- with esjsays on
several important subjects, and a life of the apostle Paul,
which includes a compendium of the apostolical history.
\ Bfof«r.J)rama!ica.— Mfe, by Kirkman — and C<wk«.
MACKNIGHT. t 67
•
Having finished this great1 work, he was desirous of enjoy*
ing the remainder of his days free from laborious pursuits,
and refused, though earnestly solicited, to undertake a
similar work with regard to the Acts of the apostles. In a
rery short time after, the decline of his faculties became
manifest, and about the close of 1799 be caught a violent
cold, the forerunner of other complaints that put an end
to his life in January 1800. . Having early acquired a taste
for classical literature, he studied the writers of antiquity
with critical skill, and was well acquainted with metaphy-
sical, moral, and mathematical science. As a preacher,
without possessing the graces of elocution, he was much
admired for his earnestness of manner, which rendered his
discourses highly interesting and useful.1
MACLAINE (Archibald), a pious and learned clergy-
man, and for fifty years minister of the English church at
the Hague, was born at Monachan in Ireland, in 1722,
and educated at Glasgow under the celebrated Mr. Hutcbe-
son, for the presbyterian ministry. His youth was spent
in Belfast, where he was long remembered with delight
by a numerous circle of friends, now nearly extinct. About
the time of the rebellion in. 1745, when in his twenty-
second year, he was invited to Holland, and succeeded
his venerable uncle Dr. Milling, as pastor of the English
church at the Hague, and remained in that situation until
the invasion of the country by the French, io 179-4, com-
pelled him to take refuge in England. He had not been
here long when an only sister, whom he had not seen for
fifty years, joined him>in consequence of the rebellion in
Ireland. During his residence at the Hague he was known
and highly respected by all English travellers, and not
unfrequently consulted, on account of his extensive eru-
dition and knowledge of political history, by official men
of the highest rank. On his arrival in England he fixed his
residence at Bath, as affording the best opportunities of
union with many of those numerous friends he had known
on the continent, and here he died, Nov. 25, 1804, aged
eighty-two.
During this long course, Dr. Maclaine's superior endow-
ments of mind and heart, his genius, learning, and indus-
try, constantly directed by a love of virtue and truth, by
piety and charity, diffused a beneficial influence over the
1 Life by bis Son, prefixed to the " Epistles."
F 2
68 MACLAINE.
whole of his professional and domestic sphere. As a scho*
lar, a gentleman, and a divine, uniformly displaying a
judicious taste, an amiable deportment, and instructive
example, be was admired and loved by all who courted
and enjoyed his society ; especially those of whom he was
a distinguished archetype — the man of education, the
polished companion, the benevolent friend, and pious
Christian.
Dr. Maclaine published in 1752 a sermon on the death
of the prince of Orange. In 1765 his masterly translation
of Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History made its first appear-
ance, in 2 vols. 4to, dedicated to William Prince of Orange*.
It experienced a most favourable reception, and was re-
printed, 1758, in six vols. 8vo, in which form it has had
several subsequent editions, particularly one published in
1811, with valuable additions by Dr. Coote, the editor;
and the Rev. Dr. Gleig, of Stirling. Few publications,
on their first appearance, having been more generally read
than Mr. Soame Jenyns's '« View of the internal Evidence
of the Christian Religion," Dr. Maclaine addressed to that
gentleman a series of letters, 1777, in 12 mo, written to
serve the best purposes of Christianity, on a due conside-
ration of the distinguished eminence of Mr. Jenyns as a
writer, of the singular mixture of piety, wit, error, wis*
dom, and paradox, exhibited in his publication, and of his
defence of Christianity on principles which would lead
men to enthusiasm or; to scepticism, according to their dif-
ferent dispositions. His only publications since were two
fast sermons, 1793 and 1797, anti a volume of setmons
preached at the Hague. He was interred in the abbey
church of Bath, where a monument has been since erected
to his memory by his friend Henry Hope, esq. *
MACLAURIN (Colin), an, eminent mathematician and
philosopher, was the son of a clergyman, and born at Kil*
modan, near Inverary, in Scotland, Feb. 1698. His fa-
mily was originally from Tirey, one of the western islands.
He was sent to the university of Glasgow in 1709, where
he continued five years, and applied himself to study in t
most intense manner, particularly to the mathematics. His
great genius for this science discovered itself so early as at
• For this work, by which thousands have been realized, Dr. Maclaine re-
ceived only the small sum of 130/.
i From materials obligingly furnished by his son, a merchant in Load**.?—
Funeral Sermon, by Dr. Gardiner, Bath, 1805, 8vo.
MACLAUEIN. 69
twelve years of age ; when, having accidentally met with
a copy of Euclid* s Elements in a friend's chamber, he
became in a few days master of the first six books without
any assistance: and it is„certai«, that in his sixteenth year
he had invented many of the propositions, which were
afterwards published as part of his work entitled " Geo-
metria Organica." In his .fifteenth year, he took the de-
. gree of master of arts ; on which occasion be composed
and publicly defended a thesis " On the power of gravity,"
with great applause. After this he quitted the university,
and retired to a country-seat of bis uncle, who had the care
of bis education, his parents, being dead some time. Here
he spent two or three years in pursuing his favourite studies ;
and such was his acknowledged merit, that having in 1717
offered himself a candidate for the professorship of mathe-
matics in the Marischal college of Aberdeen, he obtained
it after a ten days trial against a very able competitor. In
1719 he went to London, where be left his " Geometria
Organica" in the press, and where he became acquainted
with Dr.-Hoadly, bishop of Bangor, Dr. Clarke, sir Isaac
Newton, and other eminent men. At the same time he was
admitted a member of the royal society ; and in another
journey in 1721, he contracted an intimacy with Martin
Folkes, esq. the president of it, which lasted to his death.
In 1722, lord Polwartb, plenipotentiary of the king of
Great Britain at the congress of Cambray, engaged him to
go as tutor and companion to bis eldest son, who was then
to set out on bis travels. After a short stay at Paris, and
visiting other cities in* France, they fixed in Lorrain ; where
Madaurin wrote his treatise "On the percussion of
Bodies," which gained the prize of the royal academy of
sciences, for 1 724 ; but his pupil dying soon after at Mont-
pelidr, he returned immediately to bis professorship at
Aberdeen. He was hardly settled here when he received
an invitation to Edinburgh ; the patrons of that university
being desirous that he should , supply the place of Mr.
James Gregory, whose great age and infirmities had ren-
dered him incapable of teaching. On this occasion he had
some difficulties to encounter, arising from competitors,
who bad great interest with the patrons of the university,
and also from the want of an additional fund for the new
professor; all which, however, at length were surmounted,
id consequence of two letters from sir Isaac Newton. In
one, addressed, to himself, with allowance, to shew it to
Td MACLAURIN.
the patrons of the university, sir Isaac expresses himself
thus: "I am very glad to hear that you: have a prospect
of being joined to Mr. James Gregory, -in the professorship
of the mathematics at Edinburgh, not only because you
are my friend, but principally because of your abilities ;
you being acquainted as well with the new improvements,
of mathematics, as with the former state of those sciences.
I heartily wish you good success, and shall be very glad to
hear of your being elected." In a second letter to the lord
provost of Edinburgh, he writes thus : " I am glad to un-
derstand that Mr. Maclaurin is in good repute amongst you
for his skill in mathematics, for I think he deserves it very
well ; and to satisfy you that I do not flatter him, and also
to encourage him to accept the place of assisting Mr.
Gregory, in order to succeed him, I am ready, if you
please to give me leaver to contribute 20/. per annum
towards a provision for him, till Mr. Gregory's place be-
comes void, if I live so long, and I will pay it to his order
in London."
In Nov. 1725, he was introduced into the university at
the same time with his learned colleague and intimate
friend, Dr. Alexander Monro, professor of anatomy. After
this, the mathematical classes soon became very numerous,
there being generally upwards of 100 students attending
his lectures every year. These being of different standing
and proficiency, he was obliged to divide them into four
or five classes, in each of which he employed a full hour
every day, from the first of Nov. to the first of June. In
the first class he taught the first sixjbooks of " Euclid's
Elements,'* plain trigonometry, practical geometry, the
elements of fortification, and an introduction to algebra.
The second studied algebra, the 11th and 12th books of
Euclid, spherical trigonometry, conic sections, and the
general principles of astronomy. The third went on in
astronomy and perspective, read a part of sir Isaac New-
ton's " Frincipia," and saw a course of experiments for
illustrating: them performed : he afterwards read and de-
monstrated the elements of fluxions. Those in tmr fourth
class read a system of fluxions, the doctrine of chances,
and the rest of NewXon's " Principia." Besides these la-
bours belonging to his professorship, he had frequently
other employments and avocations. If an uncommon ex-
periment was said to have been made any where, the
curious were desirous of having it repeated by him ; and if
MACLAURIN. 71
an eclipse or comet was to be observed, his telescopes were
always in readiness.
He lived a bachelor to the year 1733 ; but being formed
for society, as well as contemplation, he then married
Anne, the daughter of Mr. Walter Stewart, solicitor-gene-
ral to his late majesty for Scotland. By this lady be had
seven children, of which, two sons and three daughters,
together with his wife, survived him. In 1734, Berkeley,
bishop of Cloyne, published a piece called " The Ana-
lyst ;" in which be took occasion, from some disputes that
had arisen concerning the grounds of the fluxionary me-
thod, to explode the method itself, and also to charge
mathematicians in general with infidelity in religion. Mac-
laurin thought hifmself included in this charge, and began
an answer to Berkeley's book : but, as he proceeded, so
many discoveries, so many new theories and problems oc-
curred to him, that, instead of a vindicatory pamphlet, it '
increased to " A complete system of Fluxions, with their
application to the most considerable problems in geome-
try and natural philosophy.9' This work, which was pub-^
lished at Edinburgh in 1742, 2 vols* 4to, cost him infinite
pains, and will do him immortal honour, being indeed the
most complete treatise on that science that has yet ap'-
peared *. In the mean time, be was continually gratifying
the public with 6ome performance or observation of his own,
many of which were published in the fifth and sixth vo-
lumes of the " Medical Essays," at Edinburgh. Some of
them appeared likewise in " The Philosophical Transac-
tions;" as the following: 1. "Of the construction and
measure of Curves." 2. " A new method of describing all
kinds of Curves." 3. " A letter to Martin Folkes, esq. on
Equations with impossible Roots, May 1726." 4. " Con-
tinuation of the same, March 1729." 5. " December the
21st, 1732, On the description of Curves ; with an account
of farther improvements, and a paper dated at Nancy,
4
* Dr. Thomson, however*, remarks acknowledged by every person wbo
that hje demonstrations are often so peruses the book, that all the ebjec-
long and complicated, and require tions of Dr. Berkeley against the doc-
such severe attention to follow them, trine of fluxions are completely refuted,
that he believes they are seldom perused and whatever doubts the most captious
by the 'mathematicians of the present metaphysicians may think proper here-
day, who, having turned almost the after to start about the nature of infi-
whole of their attention to the analyti- nities, the mathematician has no more
cal method, are not so capable as their concern with them than with the famous,
predecessors of following long synthe- sophisms about space and motion,
tieal demonstrations. But it will be Thomson's Hist, of the Royal Society.
« M A C L A U R I N.
JJor. 27, 1722." 6. " An account of the treatise of Flux-
ions, Jan 27, 1742." 7. " The same continued, March
10, 1742 " 8. " A Rule for finding the meridional parts
of a Spheroid with, the same exactness as of a* Sphere, Aug.
1741." 9. " Of the Basis of the Cells wherein the Bees de-
posit their honey, Nov. 3, 1734."
'. In the midst of these studies he was always ready to
promote any scheme which might contribute to the service
of his country. When the earl of Morton set ctat, in 1739,
for Orkney and Shetland, to visit his estates there, he de-
sired Mr. Maclaurjn to assist him in settling the geography
of those countries, which is very erroneous in all oar maps,
to examine their natural history, to survey the coasts, and
to talfe the measure of a degree of the meridian. Maclau-
rin's family affairs, and other connections, however, not
allowing of his absence, he drew up a memorial of what
he thought necessary to be observed, furnished the proper
instruments, and recommended Mr. Short, the famous op-
tician, as a fit operator for the management of thefo; He
had still another scheme for the improvement of geography
and navigation, of a more extensive nature; which was,
the opening a passage from Greenland to the South Sea
by the North pole; That such a passage might be fouttd,
he was so fully persuaded, that he has been heard to say, if
his situation could admit of such adventures, he would un-
dertake the voyage, even at his own charge. But when
schemes for finding it were laid before the parliament in
1744, and himself consulted by several persons of high
rank concerning them, before he could finish the memorial?
Jie proposed to send, the premium was limited to the
discovery of a North- West passage : and he used to re-
gret, that the word West was inserted, because he thought
that passage, if at all to be found, must lie not far from
the pole.
In 1745, having been yery active in fortifying the city
of Edinburgh against the rebel army, he was obliged to fly
to the north of England ; where he was invited by Her-
ring, then archbishop of York, to reside with him during
his stay in this country. " Here," says he, in a letter to
one of his friends, " I live as happy as a man can do, who
is ignorant of the state of bis family, and who sees the ruin
cif his country.'* We regret to add, that in this expedition
being exposed to cold and hardships, and naturally of a
.weak and tender constitution, be laid the foundation of a
M A C L A U R I N. 7S
dropsfcal disorder, which pot an end to his life Jane 14,
1746, aged 48. There is a circumstance recorded of him
during his last moments, which shows that he was the in-
quiring philosopher to the last : He desired his friend Dr.
Monro to account for a phenomenon he then observed in
himself, viz. flashes of fire seeming to dart from his eyes,
while in the mean time his sight was failing, so that he could
scarcely distinguish one object from another."
BJr. Maclaurin is said to have been a very good, as well
as a very great man, and worthy of affection as well as ad-
miration. His peculiar merit as a philosopher was, that all
his studies were accommodated to general utility; and we
find, in many places of bis works, an application even of
the most abstruse theories, to the perfection of mechanical
arts. He had resolved, for the same purpose, to compose
a course of practical mathematics, .and to rescue several
useful branches of the science from the bad treatment they
often meet with in less skilful bands. But all this his death
prevented ; unless, we should reckon, as a part of his in-
tended work, the translation of Dr. David Gregory's "Prac-
tical Geometry,9* which he revised, and published with
additions, 1745. He had, however, frequent opportuni-
ties of serving his friends and his country by his great skill.
Whatever difficulty occurred concerning the constructing
or perfecting of machines, the working of mines, the im-
proving of manufactures, the conveying of water, or the
execution of any other public work, he was at band to re-
solve it. He was likewise employed to terminate some dis-
putes of consequence that bad arisen at Glasgow concern-
ing the gauging of vessels; and for that purpose presented
to the commissioners of excise two elaborate memorials,
with their demonstrations, containing rules by which the
officers now act. He made also calculations relating to the
provision, now established by law, for the children and wi-
dows of the Scotch clergy, and of the professors in the
universities, entitling them to certain annuities and sums,
upon the voluntary annual payment of a certain sum by
the incumbent. In contriving and adjusting this wise
and useful scheme, he bestowed a great deal of labour, and
contributed, not a little, towards bringing it to perfection.
Among his works, we have mentioned his " Geometria
Organica," in which he treats of the description of curve
lines by continued motion : and that which gained the
prize of the royal academy of sciences in 1724. In 1740,
74 MACLAURIN.
he likewise shared the prize of the same academy, with the
celebrated Bernouilli and Euler, for resolving the motion
of the tides from the theory of gravity ; a question which
had been given out the former year, without receiving any
solution. He had only ten days for composing this paper,
and could not find leisure to transcribe a fair copy ; so that
the Paris edition of it is incorrect. He afterwards revised the
whole, and inserted it in his "Treatise of Fluxions," as he
did also the substance of the former piece. These, with the
" Treatise of Fhixions," and the pieces printed in the "Phi-
losophical Transactions," of which we have given a fist, are
all the writings which he lived to publish. Since his death,
two volumes more have appeared ; his "Algebra," and his
'* Account of sir Isaac Newton's Philosophical discoveries.**
His "Algebra," though not finished by himself, is yet
allowed to be excellent in its kind ; containing, in no large
volume, a complete elementary treatise of that science, as
far as it has hitherto been carried ; besides some neat analy-
tical papers on curve lines. His " Account of sir Isaac New-
ton's Philosophy" was occasioned by the following circum-
stances : sir Isaac dying in the beginning of 1728, his
nephew, Mr. Conduitt, proposed to publish an account of
his life, and desired Mr. Maclaurin's assistance. The lat-
ter, out of gratitude to his great benefactor, chearfully
undertook, and soon finished, the history of the progress
which philosophy had made before sir Isaac's time: and
this was the first draught of the work in hand, which not
going forward, on account of Mr. Conduitt's death, was
returned to Mr. Maclaurin. To this he afterwards made
great additions, and left it in the state in which it now ap-
pears. His main design seems to have been, to ex pram
only those parts of sir Isaac's philosophy which have been,
and still are, controverted : and this is supposed to be the
reason, why his grand discoveries concerning light and
colours are but transiently and generally touched. For it is
known, that ever since the experiments on which his doc-
trine of light and colours is founded, have been repeated
with due care, this doctrine had not been contested ; whereas
his theory of celestial phenomena, founded on gravitation,
had been misunderstood, and even ridiculed. The weak
charge of introducing occult qualities has been frequently
repeated ; foreign professors still amuse themselves with
imaginary triumphs; and even the polite and ingenious
MACLAURIN. 75
cardinal de Polignac has been seduced to lend them the
harmony of his numbers.
To the last mentioned of his works is prefixed "An Ac-
count of the Life and Writings of Mr. Maclaurin :" from
which we have taken the substance of the present memoir.1
MACLAURIN (John, Lord Dreghorn), son of the
preceding, was born at Edinburgh in December 1734,
and educated at the grammar-school and university of
Edinburgh. Having applied to the study of the law, he
was admitted a member of the faculty of advocates at
Edinburgh in 1756. In 1782, a royal society was esta-
blished in Edinburgh, of which Mr. Maclaurin was one of
the original constituent members, and at an early period
of the institution he read an essay to prove that Troy was
not taken by the Greeks. In 1787 he was raised from the
Scottish bar, at which he had practised long and success-
fully, to the bench, by the title of lord Dreghorn. He
died in 1796. . As an author we have " An Essay on Literary
Property ;" " A Collection of Criminal Cases ;" " An
Essay on * Patronage ;" and some poetical pieces, with
three dramas, entitled "Hampden," "The Public," and
"The Philosopher's Opera." During the years 179&, 3,
4, and 5, lord Dreghorn kept a journal, or diary, in which
he recorded the various events that happened in Europe
during those years. From this journal he made a selection
for publication : and in 1799 a selection of his lordship's
works was printed in tivo vols. Svo, containing most of the
pieces mentioned above. It has, however, been generally
thought that these added very little to his reputation, the
character of his poetry being that of mediocrity, and his
prose neither very lively nor profound, though he occasion-
ally exhibits learning and acuteness, and always an ardent
love of liberty."1
MACPHEKSON (James), an author whose fame rests
chiefly on his being the editor of Ossian's poems, was de-
scended from one of the most ancient families in the North
of Scotland, being cousin-german to the chief of the clan
of the Macphersons, who deduce their origin from the an-
cient Catti of Germany. His father, however, was a farmer
of no great affluence. He was born in the parish of King*
cusie, Inverness-shire, in the latter end of 1738, and re*
1 Life as above. — Ty tier's Life of Kames. — Biog. Brit.
* Lift prefixed to bis Works.
76 MA CPHERSON.
ceived the first rudiments of bis education at one of the
parish schools in the district called Badenoch, from which,
in 1752, he entered King's college, Aberdeen, where he
displayed , more genius than learning, entertaining the
society of which he was a member, and diverting the
younger part of it from their studies by his humorous and
doggrel rhimes. About two months after his .admission
into the university, the.King's college added two months
totbe length, of its amaual session or term, which induced
Macpherson, with nany other young men, to remove to
Marisobal college, where the session continued short : and
this circumstance has led the biographer, from whom we
borrow it, <o .suppose that his father was not opulent.
Soon after he left college, or perhaps before, he was
schoolmaster of Ruthven or Riven, of Badenoch, and after-
wards is said to have delighted as little as his antagonist
Johnson, in the recollection of that period, when he was
compelled, by the narrowness of his fortune, to teach boys
in an obscure school.
It was here, however, about 1758, that he published
the " Highlander,9' an heroic poem in six cantos, 12mo.
Of this poem, which has not fallen in our way, we have
seen two opinions, the one, that it indicated considerable
genius in so young an author ; the other that it is a tissue
of fustian, and absurdity, feeble, and in some parts ridicu-
lous, and shews little or no talent in the art. of versification.
This last we take to be the opinion of the late Isaac Reed,
who had a copy of the poem, which was purchased at his
sale, by: George Chalmers, esq. Mr. Reed adds, that in a
short time the author became sensible of its faults, and
-endeavoured to suppress it. About the same time he
jwrote an " Ode on the arrival of the Earl Marischal in
Scotland," which he called an attempt in the manner of
Pindar, how justly, the reader may determine, as it was
published in the European Magazine for 1796.
. It was intended that he should enter into the service of
(the church, but whether be ever took orders is uncertain.
Mr., Gray speaks of him as a young clergyman ; but David
Home probably more truly describes him as " a modest
-sensible young man, not settled in any living, but em-
ployed as a private tutor in Mr. Graham of Balgowan's
family, a way of life which he is not fond of:" This was
in 1760, when he surprized the world by the publication
of " Fragments of Ancient Poetry, collected in the High-
MACPHERSON. 77
lands of Scotland, and translated from the Galic or. Erse
language," 8vo. These fragments, which were declared
to be genuine remains of ancient Scottish* poetry, at their
first appearance delighted every reader; and some: very
good judges, and amongst the rest Mr. Gray, werfe ex-
tremely warm in their praises. Macpberson had intended
to bury them in a Scotch magazine, but- was prevented
from so injudicious a step by the advice of his friend, Mr.
Home, the auther of " Douglas." As other specimens
were said to be recoverable, a subscription was set on foot
to enable our author to quit the family he was theq in, and
undertake a mission into the Highlands, to secure them.
He engaged in the undertaking, and soon after produced
the works whose authenticity has since occasioned so much
controversy.
In 1762 he published " Fingal, an aucient epic poem,
in six books," together with several other poems, corn*-
posed by 'Ossian, the son of Fingal, translated from the
Galic language, 4to. The subject of this epic poem is an
invasion of Ireland by Swaran, king of Lochlm. CuchuU
lin, general of the Irish tribes during the minority of Cor*
mac king of Ireland, upon intelligence of the invasion,
assembled his forces near Tura, a castle on the coast of
Ulster. The poem opens with the landing of Swmran;
councils are held, battles fought, and Cuebullin is at last
totally defeated. In the mean time Fingal, king of the
Highlands of Scotland, whose aid had been solicited before
the enemy landed, arrived, and expelled them from the
country. This war, which continued but six days and as
many nights, is, including the episodes, the story of the
poem: the scene, the heath of Lena, near a mountain
called Cromleach in Ulster. This poem also was received
with equal applause as the preceding fragments.
The next year he produced " Temora," an ancient epic
poem, in eight books : together with several other poems
composed by Ossian, son of Fingal, 4to, which, though
well received, found the public somewhat less disposed to
bestow the same measure of applause. Though these
poems had been examined by Dr. Blair and others, and
tbeir authenticity asserted, there were not wanting some of
equal reputation for critical abilities, who either doubted
or declared their disbelief of the genuineness of them.
After their publication, by which he is said to have gained
twelve hundred pounds, Mr. Macpberson was called to
*'»
78 MACPHERSON.
an employment which withdrew him for some time from
the muses and his country. In 1764, governor Johns tpne
was appointed chief of Pensacola, and Mr. Macpherson
accompanied him as his secretary; but some difference
having arisen between them, they parted before their re-
turn to England. Having contributed his aid to the set-
tlement of the civil government of that colony, he visited
several of the West- India islands, and some of the pro-
vinces of North America, and returned to England in 1766.
He now resumed bis studies, and in 1771 produced
" An Introduction to the History of Great Britain and Ire-
land," 4to, a work which, be says, " without any of the
ordinary incitements to literary labour, he was induced to
proceed in by the sole motive of private amusement.19
This work is not inelegantly written, but his hypotheses on
Celtic origin brought upon him the resentment of some
critics, who preserved, very little decency on a subject that
might certainly have been discussed in an amicable man-
ner. His next performance was more justly entitled to
contempt, as it showed him to be utterly destitute of taste,
and consequently produced him neither reputation nor
profit. This was " The Iliad of Homer" translated, in two
volumes 4to, 1773, a work fraught with vanity and self-
consequence, and which met with the most mortifying re-
ception from the public. It was condemned by the critics,
ridiculed by the wits, and neglected by the world. Some
of his friends, and particularly sir John Elliott, endea-
voured to rescue it from contempt, and force it into notice,
but their success was not equal to their efforts. After a
very acute, learned, and witty critique, inserted in the
Critical Review, the new translation was confessed to
possess no merit, and ever since has been consigned to
oblivion.
About this time seems to be the period of Mr. Macpher-
son's literary mortifications. In. 1773, Dr. Johnson and
Mr. Boswell made the tour to the Hebrides; and in the
course of it, the former took some pains to examine into
the proofs of the authenticity of Ossian. The result of his
inquiries he gave to the public in 1775, in his narrative of
the tour, and his opinion was unfavourable. " I believe
they (i. e. the poems, says he) never existed in any other
form than that which we have seen. The editor or author
never could shew the original ; nor can it be shewn by any
other. To revenge reasonable incredulity by refusing
MACPHERSON. 79
evidence is a degree of insolence with which the world is
not yet acquainted ; and stubborn audacity is the last re-
fuge of guilt. It would be easy to shew it if he 'had it ;
but whence could it be had ? It is too long to be remem-
bered, and the language had formerly nothing written. He
has doubtless inserted names that circulate in popular
stories, and may have translated some wandering ballads, '
if any can be found ; and the names and some of the
images being recollected, make an inaccurate auditor
imagine, by the help of Caledonian bigotry, that he has
formerly heard the whole." Again, " I have yet supposed
no imposture but in the publisher, yet 1 am far from cer-
tainty, that some translations have not been lately made,
that may now be obtruded as parts of the original work.
Credulity on one part is a strong temptation to deceit on
the other, especially to deceit of which no personal injury
is the consequence, and which flatters the author with his
own ingenuity. The Scots have something to plead for
their easy reception of an improbable fiction : they are
seduced by their fondness for their supposed ancestors. A
Scotchman must be a sturdy moralist who does not love
Scotland better than truth ; he will always love it better
than inquiry, and, if falsehood flatters his vanity, will not
be very diligent to detect it Neither ought the English
to be much influenced by Scotch authority ; for of the
past and present state of the whole Erse nation, the Low*
landers are at least as ignorant as ourselves. To be igno-
rant is painful ; but it is dangerous to quiet our uneasiness
by the delusive opiate of hasty persuasion."
The opinions above declared by Dr. Johnson incensed
our author so much, that he was prompted by his evil
genius to send a menaeing letter to his antagonist, which
produced the most severe, spirited, and sarcastic reply
ever written *.
• " Mr. James M acpherson, I re- opinion I have given my reasons to the
ceived your foolish and impudent let- public, which I here dare you to re-
ter. Any violenee offered to me, I fate. Your rage I defy. Your abili-
shall do my best .to repel ; and what I ties, since your Homer, are npt so
cannot do for myself, the law shall do formidable; and what I hear of your
for me. I hope I shall never be de- morals, inclines me to pay regard not
terred from detecting what 1 think a to what you shall say, but to wbat you
cheat, by the menaces of a ruffian. shall prove. You may print this if
" What would you have me retract ? you will. S. J."
1 thought your book an impostor* ; I lit* we)i'* Lfe of Johnson.
think it an imposture still. For this
80 MACPrlERSOtt
Whether his warmth abated, or whether he had beeft
made sensible of his folly by the interposition of friends,
we know not ; but certain it is, we hear no more after*
wards of this ridiculous affair, except that our author is
supposed to have assisted Mr. Mac Nictalki an Answer to
Dr. Johnson's Tour, printed in 1779. Tnis supposition,
says one of his biographers, we are inclined to consider as
well founded, because we have been told by a gentleman of
veracity, that Mr; Mac Nicol affirms, that the scurrility of
bis book, which constitutes a great part, of it, was inserted*
unknown to bi«v after the manuscript was sent for publi*
cation to London.
In 1775 Mr; Macpherson published "The History of
Great Britain, from the restoration to the accession of
the House of Hanover," in 2 vols. 4to, a work which has
been decried with much clamour, but without much argu-
ment or proof; The author may perhaps Jiave been in*
fluenced by his prejudices in favour of the tory party; but
he certainly acted with great fairness, as along with it he
published the proofs upon which bis facts. were founded,
in two quarto volumes, entitled " Original Papers, con*
taining the secret History of Great Britain, from the resto-
ration to the accession of the House of Hanover. To which
are prefixed, extracts from the life of James II. as written
by himself." These papers were chiefly collected by Mr.
Carte, but are not of equal authority. They, however,
clear up many obscurities, and set the characters of many
persons in past times in a different light from that in which
they have been usually viewed.
Soon after this period, the tide of fortune flowed very
rapidly in Mr. Macpherson V favour, and his talents and
industry were amply sufficient to avail himself of every
favourable circumstance which arose. The resistance of
the Colonies called for the aid of a ready writer to com-
bat the arguments of the Americans, and to give force t<*
the reasons which influenced the conductof government,
and he was selected for the purpose. Among other things
he wrote a pamphlet, which was circulated with much
industry, entitled " The Rights of Great Britain, asserted
against the Claims of the Colonies; being an answer to
' the declaration of the general congress," 1776, 8vo, arid of
which ntany editions were published. He also was the
author of " A short History of the Opposition during the
last session of parliament," 1779, 8 vo, a pamphlet, which,
MACPHERSO^, 81
on account of its merit, was by many ascribed to Mr*
Gibbon.
*
But a more lucrative employment was conferred on hhn
about this time* He was appointed agent to the nabob of
Arcot, and in that capacity exerted bis talents in several
appeals to the public in behalf of his client. Among others
he published " Letters from Mahommed Ali Chan, nabob
frf Arcot, to the Court of Directors. To which is annexed,
a state of facts relative to Tanjore, with an appendix of ori-
ginal papers/' 1777, 4 to ; and he was supposed to be the
author of " The History and Management of the East
India Company, from its origin in 1600 to the present
times, vol. I. containing the affairs of the Carnatic ; in
which the rights of the nabob are explained, and the injus-
tice ojf the company proved," 1779, 4to.
In his capacity of agent to the nabob, it was probably
thought requisite that he should have a seat in the British
parliament. He was accordingly in 17 80 chosen member
for Camelford, but we do not recollect that he ever at-
tempted to speak in the house. He was also re-cbosen in
1784 and 1790. He had purchased, before this last men-
tioned year, an estate in the parish in which he was born ;
and changing its name from Rets to Belville, built on it a
large and elegant mansion, commanding a very romantic
and picturesque view; and thither he retired when his
health began to fail, in expectation of receiving benefit
from the change of air. He continued, however, to de-»
cline; and after lingering some time, died at bis seat at
Belville, in Inverness, Feb. 17, 1796.
In Mrs. Grant's " Letters from the Mountains" we have
some affecting particulars of bis death. u Finding some,
inward symptoms of his approaching dissolution, he sent
for a. consultation, the result of which arrived the day after
bis confinement Be was perfectly sensible and collected,
yet refused to take any thing prescribed to him to the last,
and. that on this principle, that bis4ime was come, audit
did not aiqul He felt the approaches of death, and hoped
no relief/ from medicine, though bis life was not such aa-s
owe should like to look back on at that awful period. H
Indeed, whose is ? It pleased the Almighty to render bis'
last scene most affecting and exemplary. He died last
Tuesday evening; and from the minute he was confined
tilla very little before he expired, never ceased imploring
the divine mercy in the most earnest and pathetic manner.
Vol. XXI. G
82 HA CPHERSON.
People about him were overawed and melted by the fervour
and bitterness of his penitence. He frequently and
earnestly entreated the prayers of good serious people of
the lower class who were admitted. He was a very good-
natured man ; and now that he had got all his schemes of
interest and ambition fulfilled, he seemed ta reflect and
grow domestic, and shewed of late a great inclination to
be an indulgent landlord, and very liberal to the poor, of
which I could relate various instances, more tender and
interesting than flashy or ostentatious. His heart - and
temper were originally good. His religious principles
were, I fear, unfixed and fluctuating; but the primary
cause that so much genius, taste, benevolence, and pros-
perity, did not produce or diffuse more happiness, was his
living a stranger to the comforts of domestic life, from
which unhappy connexions excluded him, &c."
He appears to have died in very opulent circumstances,
and by his will, dated June 1793, gave various annuities
and legacies to several persons to a great amount. He
also bequeathed 1000/. to Mr. John Mackensie, of Figtree
court, in the Temple, to defray the expence of printing
and publishing Ossian in the original. He directed 300/.
to be laid out iu. electing a monument to his. memory, in
some conspicuous situation at Belville, and ordered that
his body should be carried from Scotland, and interred in
the Abbey-church of Westminster, the city in which he
had passed the greatest and best part of his life. He was
accordingly brought from the place where he died, and
- buried in the Poets-corner of the church.
On the subject of that dispute to which Mr. Macpherson
gave rise, and which is not yet, and probably never will
be, finally adjusted, it is not our purpose to enter. rthe
general opinion, however,- we may just mention, is un-
favourable to his veracity ; but Mr. Laing's dissertation,
which has greatly contributed to this effect, when com-
pared with the " Report of the Highland Society," will
afford the reader as much light as has yet been thrown
upotf the question. l
MACQ.UER (Philip), a French lawyer, chiefly cele-
brated for his chronological abridgments after the manner
■t
} European Magazine for 1 796 — Report of the Highland Society.— -rLaingfe
Hist6ry of Scotland, and his edition of Ossian.— Fofbes's Life of'Beattie.—
. Warburton's Letters, p. 244, 346, 246.— Sheffield's Life pf Gibbon, vol* I. p.
544.— Pr* Gleig?f Supplement to the Bocyci. Bntannica. , . , .
MACQUER. 83
of Henault, was born at Paris, Feb. 15, 1720, and edu-
cated at the university of that city. Here he gave the most
promising hopes of success in any of the learned profes-
sions, and had in particular attached himself to the law ;
but weak lungs preventing him from entering into the
active occupations of a pleader,- he devoted himself to ge-
neral literature, and produced the following works : 1.
" Abr£gg Chronoiogique de THistoire Ecclesiastique,"
a chronological abridgment of Ecclesiastical History, in
three volumes, octavo, written more drily and less ele-
gantly than that of Henault, whom the author followed.
2. " Lea Annales Romaines," 1756, one volume octavo, in
which the author has taken advantage of the most valuable
remarks of St. Evremond, the abbe St. R£al, Montesquieu,
Mably, and several others, respecting the Romans; and
the work is consequently not so dry as the former. In
style, however, he is still inferior to his model. Of this
we have an English translation by Nugent, 1759, 8vo. 3.
"Abr6g6 Chronoiogique de PHistoire d'Espagne et de
Portugal," 2 vols. 8vo, 1759—1765. This work, which
was actually begun by Henault, is worthy of him in point
of exactness; but neither affords such striking portraits,
nor such profound remarks. Lacomb^^nother author
celebrated for this kind of compilation, assisted also in this.
Macquer bad some share in writing the " Dictionaire des
Arts et Metiers," 2 vols. 8vo. He was industrious, gentle,
modest, sincere, and a decided enemy to all quackery and
ostentation. He had little imagination, but a sound judg-
ment ; and had collected a great abundance and variety of
useful knowledge. He died the 27th of January, 1770. '
MACQUER (Joseph), brother to the preceding, an
eminent physician and chemist, was born at Paris, Oct. 9,
17J8, and became a doctor of the faculty of medicine in
the university of that metropolis, professor of pharmacy,
and censor-royal. He was, likewise, a member of the
academies of sciences of Turin, Stockholm, and Paris, and
conducted the medical and chemical departments of the
Journal des Sgavans. He bad the merit of pursuing che-
mistry as a department of natural philosophy, and was
one of the most successful cultivators of the science, uptm
rational principles, previous to the new modelling which it
has received within the last twenty-five years* He died
1 Necrelogie des Homme* CelebreS) ann6e 1771.— Diet H&L
G 2
84 MACQUER.
Feb. 15, 1784, after having suffered much by an internal
complaint, which appeared beyond the reach of skilL On
this aecount he desired that bis body might be opened,
when it was discovered that hfc disorder was an ossification
of the aorta, with strong concretions formed in the cavity
of the heart. Mr. Macquer's private character appears to
have been truly amiable in every relation, and few men
were more respected by his contemporaries. He published,
1. " Elemens de Chymie Theorique," 1749 — 1753, 12mo.
2. " Elemens de Chymie Pratique," 2 vols. 12mo. 3. " Plan
d'un Cours de Chymie experimentale et raisonn£e," 1757,
- 12 mo. This was composed in conjunction with M. Baum£,
who was associated with him in his lectures. 4. '* Die-
tionnaire de Chymie," 1766, 2 vols. 8vo. These works
have all been translated into English and German ; the
Dictionary particularly, by Mr. Keir, with great additions
and improvements. 5. " Formulae Medicamentorum Ma-
gistral ium," 1763 ; and he had also a share in the compo-
position of the " Pharmacopeia Parisiensis," of 1758. *
MACRINUS (Salmoneus), was a name assumed by a
modern poet, whose true name was John Salmon ; or, as
some say, given to him on account of his excessive thinness,
from the LatuygQjective macer. It became, however, the
current appellation of him&elf and Charles, his brother,
who was also a writer of some celebrity, preceptor to Ca-
therine of Navarre, sister of Henry IV, and who perished
in the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Some have called
Macrinus the French Horace, on account of his talents for
poetry, particularly the lyric kind. He was born at Lou-
don, where he died in 1557, at an advanced age. He
wrote hymns, naeniae, and other works, which appeared .
from 1522 to 1550 : and was onejof those who principally
contributed to restore the taste for Latin poetry. Van 1 has
relates a story of his drowning himself in a well, in despair, '
on being suspected of Lutheranism. Bikt this, like ihost
anecdotes of the same writer, is a matter of invention rather
than fact. *
MACROBIUS (Ambrosius AureuusTheodosiits), was
an ancient Latin writer, who flourished towards the latter
part of the fourth century. What countryman he was, is
not clear : Erasmus, in his Ciceronianus, seems to think hfe
, * Eloges des Academfciens, vol. IV. — Rees's Cyclopaedia from £ioy»
5 Gen, Diet.— Moreri.— Diet. Hist.
MACROBIUS. 85
was a Greek ; and he himself tells us, in the preface to his
'* Saturnalia," that be was not a Roman, but laboured under
the inconveniences of writing in a language which was not
.native to him. Of what religion he was, Christian or pa-
?an, is also uncertain. Barthius ranks him among the
Christians ; but Spanheim and Fabricius suppose him to
have been a heathen. It seems, however, agreed that he
was a man of consular dignity, and on£ of the chamber*
lains, or masters of the wardrobe to Theodosius ; as appears
from a rescript directed to Florentius, concerning those
who were to obtain that office. He wrote " A Commentary
upon Cicero's Somnium Scipionis," full of Platonic notions,
and seven books of " Saturnalia ;" which resemble in plan
the " Noctes Atticae" of Aulus Gellius. He termed them
" Saturnalia," because, during the vacation observed on
these feasts of Saturn, he collected the principal literati of
Rome, in his house, and conversed with them on all kinds
of subjects, and afterwards set down what appeared to him
most interesting in their discourses. His Latinity is far
from being pure, but as a collector of facts, opinions, and
criticism, his works are valuable. The " Somnium Sci-
pipnis," and "Saturnalia," have been often printed; to
which has been added, in the later editions, a piece en-
titled " De differentiis & societatibus Crfaeci Latinique
verbi." The best editions are those of the Variorum ; of
Gronovius in 1670, and Leipsic in 1777. There is a spe-
cimen ef an English translation of the " Saturnalia" in the
Gent. Mag. for 1760, but it does not appear to have been
completed.1
MA DAN (Martin), a celebrated preacher and writer,
was the son of Martin Madan, esq. of Hertingfordbury near
Hertford, member of parliament for Wootton Basset, and
groom of the bedchamber to Frederick prince of Wales.
His mother was daughter of Spencer Cowper, esq. and
niece of the lord chancellor Cowper, an accomplished
lady, and author of several poems of considerable merit*
He was born in 1726, and was bred originally to the law,
and had been called to the bar; but being fond of die
study of theology, well versed in Hebrew, and becoming in-
timate with Mr, Jones and Mr. Romaine, two clergymen of
great popularity at that time, by their advice he left th^
law for the pulpit, and was admitted into orders. His first
sermon is said to have been preached in the church of All-
* Care, vol. I.— Moreri.— Sa*ii Oaomast. — Clarke's Bibliogr. Diet. ,
66 MADAN.
hallows, Lombard -street, and to have attracted immediate
attention and applause. Being appointed chaplain to the
Lock-hospital, his zeal led him to attend diligently, and
to preach to the unfortunate patients assembled in the par-
lour : his fame also brought many others thither, till the
rooms and avenues were crowded. This led to a proposal
for & chapel, which was finished in 1761, and opened with
a sermon from the chaplain. He subjected himself to much
obloquy, abbut the year 1767, by the advice he gave to his
friend Mr. Havveis, to retain the rectory of Aldwincle, and
several pamphlets were written on the subject; but lord
Apsley (afterwards Bathurst) did not seem to consider the
affair in an unfavourable light, as he afterwards appointed
him his chaplain. Mr. Madan became an author in 1761,
when he published, 1. *' A sermon on Justification by
Works.9' 2. "A small treatise on the Christian Faith/' 1761 ,
12mo. 3. " Sermon at the opening of the Lock Hospital,
1762.'* 4. « Answer to the capital errors of W. Law," 1 7 63,
6vo. 5. " Answer to the narrative of facts respecting the
rectory of Aldwinckle," 1767, 8vo. 6. " A comment on the
Thirty-nine Articles," 1772,8vo. 7."Thelyphthora," 1780»
2 vols. £vo. In this book the aijthor justifies polygamy,
upon the notion that the first cohabitation with a woman is
a virtual marriage ; and supports his doctrine by many
acute arguments. The intention of the work was to lessen,
or remove the causes of seduction ; but it met with much
opposition, many very severe animadversions, and cost the
author his reputation among the religious world. He,
however, was not discouraged; and in 1781, published a
third volume, after which the work sunk into oblivion, a
fate to which the masterly criticism on it in the Monthly
Review, by the rev. Mr. Bad cock, very greatly contributed*
It is somewhat remarkable that Mrs. Manley in the " Ata-
lantis" speaks of lord chancellor Cowper, as maintaining
the same tenets on polygamy. Mr. Madan next produced;
8. " Letters to Dr. Priestley," 1787, l£mo. 9. A literal
version of " Juvenal and Persius," with notes, 1789* 2
vols. Svo : and some controversial tracts on the subject of
his Theiyphthora. Mr. Madan died at Epsom in May,
1790, at the "age of 64, after a short illness, and was
buried at Kensington. The late Or. Spencer Madan, bi-
shop of Peterborough, was brother to our author.1
1 Preceding edit, of this Diet.— Lysons's Environs, vol. HI.— Month. Rer.
MADDEN. *1
MADDEN (Samuel), D. D. (" a name," saya Dr. Jdkn~
son, " which Ireland ought to honour,") was born in 1687,
and received his education, at Dublin. He appears, how-
ever, to have been in England in 1729; and having. writ-
ten a tragedy called " Themistocles, or the. Lover of his
country," was, as he himself says, tempted to. let it appear,
by the offer of a noble study of books from the profits of it.
In 172* 1, he projected a scheme for promoting learning in
the college of Dublin by premiums, at the quarterly ex->
animations, which has proved highly beneficial. . In 1732,
he published his " Memoirs of the Twentieth Century ;
being original Letters of State under George the Sixth,
relating to, the most, important events in Great- Britain,
apd Europe, as to church and state, arts- and sciences,
trade, taxes, and treaties, peace and war, and characters
of the greatest persons of those times, from the middle of
the eighteenth to the end of the twentieth century, and the
world. Received and revealed in the year 1728 ; and now
published, for the instruction of all eminent statesmen,
churchmen,. patriots, politicians, projectors, papists, and
protestauts." In 6 vols. Land. 1733, 8vo. * In 1740, we
find him in his native country, and in that year setting
apart the annual sum of one hundred pounds, to be distri-
buted, by way of premium, to the inhabitants of Ireland
only; namely, 50/. to the author of the best invention for
improving any useful art or manufacture ; 25/. to the per?
son who should execute the best statue or piece of sculp-
ture ; and 25/. to the person who should finish the best
piece of painting, either- in history or landscape ; the pre-
miums to be decided by the Dublin society, of which Dr.
Madden was the institutor. The good effects of these well
applied benefactions have not only been felt to advantage
in the kingdom where they were given, but have even
* There is something mysterious in business was transacted by Mr. Bow-
the history of this work, of which only yer, without either of the other prin-
oue volume na* appeared, and whether ters ever seeing the author ; a number
any more were really intended is un- of them was delivered to the several
certain. A thousand copies were print- booksellers mentioned in the title-page;
ed with such Very great ditpatcb, that and in four days after, all that were
three printers were employed on it unsold were recalled, and 890 of then)
(Bowyer, Woodfall, and Roberts); and . were given up to Dr. Maddeu% to be
the names of an uncommon number of destroyed. Mr. Tutet, who had a copy
tep*jfe&>le booksellers in the title-page- of this curiosity, never beard but of one
The current report is, that the edition other, though he frequently inquired
was suppressed on the day of publica- after it. Mr. Bindley, however, has
Hon ; and that it is pow exceedingly a copy,
scaipe, itf certain. The whole of the '
SS MADDEN.
extended their influence to it* sister country, having given
rise to the society for tfat encouragement of arts and
sciences in London. In 1743 or 4, he published- a long
poem, called '< Boulter's Monument ;" which was corrected
for the press by Dr. Johnson ; and an epistle of about 20O
lines by him is prefixed to the second edition of Leland's
"Life of Philip of Macedon." In an oration spoken at
Dublin, Dec. 6, 1757, by Mr. Sheridan, that gentlemau
took occasion to mention* Dr. Madden's bounty, and yw
tended to have proceeded in the following manner, but
was prevented by observing the doctor to be then present.
Speaking of the admirable institutions of premiums, he
went on, " Whose author, bad be never contributed any
thing farther to the good of his country, would have de-
serted immortal honour, and toust have been held in re-
Terence by the latest posterity. But the unwearied and
disinterested endeavours, during a long course of years,
of this truly good man, in a variety of branches, to promote
industry, and consequently the welfare of this kingdom,
and the mighty benefits which have tbence resulted to the
community, have made many of the good people of Ire-
land sorry, that a long-talked of scheme has not hitherto
been put in execution : that we might not appear inferior
in point of gratitude to the citifceos of London, with re-
spect to a fellow-citizen [sir John Barnard], (surely not
with more reason,) and that like them we might be able
to address our patriot, Praesenti tibi matures iargimur
honores*"
Dr. Madden had some gobd church preferment in Ire*
land, particularly a deanery, we know not which, and the
living of Drumtoully, worth about 400/. a year, tile right
of presentation to which was divided between his own
fgnuiy, and another. As his family had presented on the
last vacancy, the other of course had a right to present
now ; but the Maddens offering .to give up all right of
presentation in future, if allowed to present on the present
occasion, this was agreed, to, and thus the Doctor got the
living. At what time this occurred we are not told, but
he was then a colonel of militia, and was in Dublin dressed
an scarlet. Besides this living, he had a very good estate;
but as he was almost entirely devoted to books, or acts of
charity and public good, be left the- management of his
income, both ecclesiastical and temporal, to his wife, a
lady of a somewhat different turn of m'rnd. They lived '*t.
MADDEN. 49
Manor- water*hoa?e, three miles from Newtown -Butler; ,
and the celebrated rev. Philip Skelton lived with them for
tome time, as tutor to the children. Dr. Madden also
gave him the curacy of Newtow&~Butler.
Dt Madden died Dec. 30, 1765. There is a fine mez«
zotinto of him, a whole length by J. Brooks, and a later,
by Richard Purcell, from a painting by Robert Hunter.
Mom. Grosley, a lively French traveller, speaking of a
elty in the centre of France, " which at the beginning of
the fifteenth century served as a theatre to the grandest
scene that England ever acted in that kingdom," mentions
'several English families as lately extinct, or still subsisting
there. " This city," he adds, " in return, has given the
British dominions an illustrious personage, to whom they
are indebted for the first prizes which have been there
distributed for die encouragement of agriculture and arts.
His name was Madain : being thrown upon the coast of
Ireland by events of which I could never hear any satis*
factory account, be settled in Dublin by the name of
Madden, there made a fortune, dedicated part of his estate,
which amounted to four or five thousand pounds a year, to
the prizes which I have spoken of, and left a rich succession t
part of this succession went over to France to the Madain*
his relations, who commenced a law-suit for the recovery
of it, and caused ecclesiastical censures to be published
against a merchant, to whom they had sent a letter of at*
torney to act for them, and whom they accused of having
appropriated to himself a share of their inheritance." '
MADOX (Isaac), a famous English prelate, born at
London, July 27, 1 697, of obscure parents, whom he lost
while he was young, was taken care of by an aunt, who
placed him in * charity-school, and afterwards put jbim on
trial to a pastry-cook ; but, before he was bound appren-
tice, the master told her that the boy was not fit for trade;
that he was continually reading books of learning above bis
(the master's) comprehension, and therefore advised that
she should take him away, and send him back to school, to
follow the bent of his inclination. He was On this sent, by
*n exhibition of some dissenting friends, to, one of the
universities of Scotland, Cole says, that of Aberdeen ; but,
not caring to take orders in that church, was afterwards,
through the patronage of bishop Gibson, admitted to
* Nichols's Bowyer.— BpswetV* Life of Johnf<m.-<-Burdy?s Life of Skelton,
K>. 28, 32—39:
90 M A D O X.
QueenVcollege, Cambridge, and was favoured with a
doctor's degree at Lambeth. After entering into orders,,
he first was curate of St. Bride's, then domestic chaplain
to Dr. Waddington, bishop of Chichester, whose niece he
married, and was afterwards promoted to the rectory of St.
Vedast, in Foster-lane, London. In 1729, he. was ap-
pointed .clerk of the closet to queen Caroline. In 1733,
he became dean of Wells, and was consecrated bishop of
St. Asaph, in 1736. He was translated to the see of Wor-
cester, in 1743. In 1733 he published the first part of
the * Review of Neal's History of the Puritans," under
the title of, " A Vindication of the Government, Doctrine,
and Worship of the Church of England, established in the
reign of queen Elizabeth :" of which the late bishop Hal-
ifax said, " a better vindication of the reformed church
of England, I never read." He was a great benefactor to
the London hospitals, and the first promoter of the Wor-
cester Infirmary in 1745, which has proved of singular
benefit to the poor, and a great advantage to medical and
surgical knowledge in that neighbourhood. He was also a
great encourager of trade, engaging in the British fishery,
by which he lost some money. He likewise was a strong
advocate for the act against vending spirituous liquor*
He piarried Elizabeth daughter of Richard Price, esq. of
Hayes in Middlesex, in 1 73 1 ; and had two daughters and
a son, of whom only one daughter survived him, and was
afterwards married to the hon. James Yorke, bishop of
Gloucester, and late bishop of Ely. He died Sept. 27,
1739. Bishop Madox published fourteen occasional ser-
mons preached between the years 1734 and 1752. Among
other instances of his benevolence, we may mention his as-
signing 2QQLperann. during his life, for the augmentation of
the smaller benefices of his diocese. He corresponded with
Dr. Doddridge with affectionate familiarity, and visited him
when at Bristol, offering in the most obliging manner to coo*
yey him to the Wells in bis chariot, at the stated times of
drinking. He used to anticipate any hints respecting his
origin by a joke which he was fond of repeating. When
tarts were on his table, he pressed the company to partake,
saying " that he believed they were very good, but that they
were not of his own making" This he varied, when John
Whiston dined with him, into, " some people reckon me a.
good judge of that article !" Upon the whole he appears
to have been an amiable and benevolent man, and to have
M A D O X. 91,
employed' his wealth as. wclL as his talents to the best, pur*
poses. His widow survived him thirty years, dying Feb.
19, 1789,1
MADOX (Thomas), the learned exchequer antiquary,
and historiographer royal, of whose personal history we
have no information, is well known among antiquaries and
lawyers for his valuable collection of records relating to the
ancient laws and constitution of this country ; the know-
ledge of which tends greatly to the illustration of English
history. In 1702, under the patronage of the learned
lord Somers, he published the first fruits of his researches,
under the title of " A Collection of antique Charters and
Instruments of divers kinds taken from the originals, placed
under several heads, and deduced (in a series according to
the order of time) from the Norman conquest, to the end
of the reign of king Henry VIIL" This is known by the
name of the " Formulare Anglicanuni." To it is prefixed
a dissertation concerning " Ancient Charters and Instru-
ments," replete with useful learning upon that subject.
He was prompted to this work, by considering that there
was no methodical history or system of ancient charters
and instruments of this nation then extant ; and that it
would be acceptable to curious persons, and useful to the
public, if something were done for supplying that defect
Having entertained such a design, and being furnished
with proper materials from the archives of the late court of
augmentations, he was encouraged to proceed in it, espe-
cially by lord Somers.; and prosecuted it with so much ap-
plication, that out of an immense heap of original charters
and writhigs, remaining in that, repository, he selected
and digested the chief substance of this volume. In 171 J,
he proceeded to a work of still greater importance than the
foregoing, " The History and Antiquities of the Exche-
quer of the Kings of England, in two periods, viz. from
the Norman conquest, to the end of tbe reign of king
John; and from the end of the reign of king John, to
the end of the reign of king Edward II. Taken from,
records. Together with a correct copy of the ancient
dialogue concerning the Exchequer, generally ascribed
to Gervasius Tilburiensis ; and a Dissertation concern*
ipg the most ancient great roil of the exchequer, com-
monly styled the roll of Quinto Regis Stephani," folio;
} Nichols's Bowyer.— Orton's Life of Doddridge, p. 328.— Doddridge's Let-
tors., p. 452— 454.— -MS notss by John Whiston iu his copy of the first eJitiou
of this Dictionary.
m u A d a x.
reprinted in If 69, in 4ta This was dedicated to oui
Anne ; but; there is likewise prefixed to it a long prefatory
epistle to the lord Somers, in which he gives that illustrious
patroq some account of this unprecedented undertaking.
He observes, thai though some treatises bad been written
concerning the exchequer, yet no history [of it had been
yet attempted by any man ; that he had pursued his sub-
ject to those ancient times, to which, he thinks, the ori-
ginal of the exchequer in England may properly be as-
signed ; and thence had drawn down an .orderly account of
H through a long course of years ; and, having consulted,
as well the books necessary to be perused upon this occa-
sion, as a very great number of records and manuscripts,
he had endeavoured all along to confirm what he offered
by proper vouchers, which are subjoined column-wise in
each page, except where their extraordinary length made
it impracticable. The records which he here attests were,
as he adds, taken by his own pen from the authentic
parchments, unless where it appears by his references to
be otherwise. He has contrived throughout the whole (as
far as the subject-matter would permit) to make use of
such memorials as serve either to make ,known or fo ex-
plain the ancient laws and usages of this kingdom. For
which reason, as he notes, this work may be deemed, not
merely a history of the exchequer, but likewise a promp-
tuary towards a history of the ancient law of England. . He
afterwards acquaints his lordship in what method he began
and proceeded in compiling thjs work. First, he made as
full a collection from records as he could, of materials re-
lating to the subject. Those materials being regularly
arranged in several books of collectanea, he reviewed them,
and, weighing what they imported, and how they might
be applied, he drew from thence a general scheme of his
design. When he had pitched upon the heads of his dis-
course, he took materials for them out of the aforesaid:
fund, and digested them into their proper rank and order. '
In doing this, it was his practice for the most part to write "
down, in the draught of his book, the respective records
or testimonies first of all ; i. e. before he wrote his own
text or composition ; and from them formed his history or
account of things; connecting and applying them -after-
wards, as the case would admit. At the <end of this his-
tory (as we have expressed it in the title) Mr. Maddox has
published a copy of. the treatise concerning the exchequer,
M A D O X. *3
written in the way of dialogue, and generally ascribed to '
Genrasius Tilburiensis* This treatise is certainly vety
ancient, and intrinsically valuable. Our author introduces
it by an epistolary dissertation, in Latin, to the then lord.
Halifax. The dialogue is followed by another epistolary
dissertation, in the same language, addressed to She lord
Somerc, relating to the great roll of the exchequer* com-
monly styled the " Roll of Qttinto Regis Stephatti." No
historical account has been given; in thib volume, of the
records reposited in the exchequer. Mr. Madox thought
that it might be more properly done if there was occasion
for it, hereafter, in a continuation of this work ; tohieh he
seems to have had some intention of performing himself
when he published this part ; or hoped some other hand
would supply, if he did not*. The concluding chapter
of the history is a list of the barons of this court from the
first year ef William the Conqueror to the 20th of Edward
II. The last work this laborious historiographer published
himself, was the " Ffrma Burgi, or historical essay con-
cerning the cities* towns, And boroughs of England. Taken
from records/* This treatise was inscribed to king George
I. The author warns his readers against expecting to find
any curious or refined learning in it ; in regard the matter
of it is low. It is only one part of a subject, which, how-
ever, is extensive and difltotilt, concerning which, he tells
us, much has been skid by English writers to very littU
purpose, serving rather to entangle than to clear it When
he first entered upon the discussion of it, be found himself
encompassed with doubts, which it hath been his endea-
vour, as he says, to remove or lessen as he went along.
~ He has throughout mixed history and dissertation together,
making these two strengthen and diversify each other.
However modestly Mr. Madox might express himself con-
cerning the learning of this work, it is in reality both cu-
rious and profound) and bis inquiries very useful. The
civil antiquities of this country would, in all probability,
have been further obliged than they are to this industrious
pef*bn, if his life had been of a somewhat longer con-
tinuances fof it May be presumed, from two or three .
passages in the prefaces of th&se books he published him-
_ m a letter from him to Dr. Char- sold, he would be but just able to pay
leit, we find that the printing and paper the charges with a trilling overplus.1' —
of this work cost him 400/. and when Letters by eminent Persons, J813,
the whole impression of 480 should be 3 vols. 4*>*
84 M A D O X.
*
self, that he meditated and intended some others to follow
them, different from this posthumous History of Baronies^
which his advertisement of it apparently suggests to be
the only manuscript left finished by the. author. This is
compiled much. in the manner of his other writings. In
the first book he discourses largely of land baronies; in
the second book he treats briefly of titular baronies ; and
in the third' of feudal tenure in capite.
Mr. Madox's large and valuable collection of transcripts,
in ninety -four volumes in folio and quarto, consisting chiefly
. of extracts from records in the exchequer, the patent and
clause rolls in the Tower, the Cotton library, the archives
of Canterbury and Westminster, the collections ol Christ's
College, Cambridge, &c. made by him, and intended as
materials for a feudal history of England from the earliest
times, were presented by his widow to the British museum,
where they are now preserved. They were the labour of
thirty years; and Mr. Madox frequently declared, that
when young he would have given 1500 guineas; for them.
Fifty-nine volumes of Rymer's Collection of Public Acts
relating to the history and government of England from
1115 to 1698 (not printed in his Foadera, but of which
there is a catalogue in vol. XVII.) are also deposited in the
Museum by an order of the House of Lords; 1 ■
MAECENAS (Caius Cilmus), the great friend and
« counsellor of Augustus Caesar, was himself a polite scholar,
but is chiefly memorable for having been the patron and
protector of men of letters. He was descended -from a
most ancient and illustrious origin, even from the kings of
Hetruria, as Horace often tells us ; but his immediate fore-
fathers were only of the equestrian order. He is supposed
to have been born at Rome, because his. family lived there ;
but in what year antiquity does not tell us. His educa-
tion is supposed to have been of the most liberal kind, and
agreeable to the dignity and splendour of his birth, as he
excelled in every thing that related to arms, politics, and
letters. How he spent his younger years is. also unknown,
there being no mention made of him, by ttfiy writer, before
the death of Julius Caesar, which happened in the year of
Rome 709. Then Octavius Caesar, who was afterwards
called Augustus, went to Rome to take possession of his
uncle's inheritance ; and, at the same time, ^Maecenas l>e-
* Nichols** Bowyer. ,_ '.
M JE C E N A S. 95
Came first publicly known ; though he appear* to have been
Augustus's friend, and, as it should seem, guardian, from
bis childhood. From that time he accompanied him
through all his fortunes, and was his counsellor and ad-
viser upon all occasions ; so that Pedo Albinovanus, or
rather the unknown author whose elegy has been ascribed
to him, justly calls him " Caesaris dextram," Caesar's right
hand.
A. U. C. 710, the year that Cicero was killed, and Ovid
born, Maecenas distinguished himself by his courage and
military skill at the battle of Modena, Where the consuls
Hirtius and Pansa were killed in fighting against Antony ;
as he did afterwards at Philippi. After this last battle,
began the memorable friendship between him and Horace.
Horace, as Suetonius relates, was a trib&ne in the army of
Brutus and Cassius, and, upon the defeat of those generals,
made a prisoner of war. Maecenas, finding him an accom-
plished man, became immediately his friend and protector,
and afterwards recommended him to Augustus, who re-
stored him to his estate, with no small additions. In the
mean time, though Maecenas behaved himself well as a
soldier in these and other * battles, yet his principal pro-
vince was that of a minister and counsellor. He was the
adviser, • the manager, the negotiator, in every thing that
related to civil affairs. When the league was made at
Brundusium betwen Antony and Augustus, he was sent to
act: on the part of Augustus, and afterwards, when this
league was about to be broken, through the suspicions of
each party, he was sent to Antony to ratify it anew.
U. C. 717, when Augustus and Agrippa went to Sicily,
to fight Sextus Pompeius by sea, Maecenas went with
them ; but soon after returned, to appease some commo-
tions which were rising at Rome : for though he usually
attended Augustus in all his military expeditions, yet
whenever there was any thing to be done at Rome, either
with the senate or people, he was also dispatched thither
for that. purpose. He was indeed invested with the go-
vernment while Augustus and Agrippa were employed in
the wars. Thus Dion Cassius, speaking of the year 718,
says. that. Maecenas " had then, and some time after, the
administration of civil affairs, not only at Rome, but
throughout all Italy," .and V. Paterculus relates, that after
then battle of Actium, which happened in the year 724;
">fcfae government of the city was committed to Maecenas, a
man of equestrian rank, but of an illustrious family."
96 M M C E N A S*
Upon the total defeat of Antony at Actium, he returned
to Rome, to take the government into his hands, till Au-
gustus could settle some necessary affairs in Greece and
Asia. Agrippa soon followed Maecenas ; and, when Au-
gustus arrived, he placed these two great men and faithful
adherents, the one over his civil, the other over his military
concerns. While Augustus was extinguishing the remains
of the civil war in Asia and Egypt, young Lepidus, the
son of the triumvir, was forming a scheme to assassinate
him at his return to Rome. This conspiracy was discovered
at Once by the extraordinary vigilance of Maecenas ; who,
as Paterculus says, "observing the rash councils of the
headstrong youth* with the same tranquillity and calratiesa
as if uothing at all had been doing, instantly pat him to
death, without the least noise and tumult, and by that
means extinguished another civil war in its very beginning."
The civil wars being now at an end, Augustus returned
to Rome ; and after he had triumphed according to cus-
tom, he began to talk of restoring the commonwealth.
Whether he was in earnest, or did it only to try the judg-
ment pf his friends, we do not presume to determine :
however he consulted Maecenas and Agrippa about it*
Agrippa advised him to it ; but Maecenas dissuaded him,
saying, that it was not only impossible for him to live in
safety as a private man, after what had passed, but that
the government would be better administered, and flou-
rish more in his hands than if he was to deliver it. up to
the senate and people. The author of the "Life of
Virgil" says that Augustus, " wavering what he should do,
consulted that poet upon the occasion." But this life is
not of sufficient authority ; for, though it has usually beeli
ascribed to Servius or Donatus* yet the critics agree, that
it was not written by either of them. Augustus, in the
mean time, followed Maecenas's advice, and retained the
government : and from this time Maecenas indulged him-
self, at vacant hours, in literary alnusemtnts, and the con-
versation of the men of letters. In the year 734 Virgil
died, and left Augustus and Maecenas heirs to his posses*
sious. Maecenas was excessively fond of this poet, who,
of ell the wits of the Augustan age, stood highest in his
esteem ; and, if the " Georgics" and the " JEtaeid" be
owing to the good taste and encouragement of this patron,
as there is some reason to think, posterity eaimot'comussv
morate htm. with too much gratitude. ■ The anther of khe
• -*♦
M M C E N A S. 97
* < Life of Virgil*' tells us that the poet " published the
Georgics in honour of Maecenas, to whom they are ad-
dressed ;M and adds, that " they were recited to Augustus
four days together at Atella, where he rested himself for
some time, in his return from Actium, Maecenas taking
upon him the office of reciting, as oft as Virgil's voice
failed him." Horace may be ranked next to Virgil in
Maecenas's good graces : we have already mentioned how
and. what time their friendship commenced. Propertius
also acknowledges Maecenas for his favourer and protector :
nor must Varins be forgot, though we have nothing of his
remaining; since we find him highly praised by both Vir-
gil and Horace. He was a writer of tragedies: and Quin-
tilian thinks he may be compared with any of the ancients.
In a word, Maecenas's house was a place of refuge and
welcome to all the learned of his time ■, not only to Virgil,
Horace, Propertius, and Varius, but to Fundanius, whom
Horace extols as an admirable writer of comedies ; to Fus-
cus Aristius, a noble grammarian, and Horace's intimate
friencV; to Plotius Tueca, who assisted Varius in correcting
the " ^Eneid" after the death of Virgil ; to Valgius, a poet
and very learned man, who, as Pliny tells us, dedicated a
took to Augustus " De usu Herbarum ;" to Asinius Pollio,
an excellent tragic writer, and to several others, whom it
would be tedious to mention. All these dedicated their
works, or some part of them at least, to Maecenas, and
repeatedly celebrated his praises in them; and we may
observe further, what Plutarch tells us, that even Au-
gustus himself inscribed his " Commentaries" to him and
to Agrippa.
Maecenas continued in Augustus's favour to the end of
his life, but not uninterruptedly. Augustus had an intrigue
with Maecenas's wife ; and though the minister bore this
liberty of his master's very patiently, yet there wag once a
coldness on the part of Augustus, although not of long
continuance. Maecenas died in the year 745, as is sup-
posed, at an advanced age. He must have been older than
Augustus, because he was a kind of tutor to him in his
youth. Horace did not probably long survive liim, as
there is no elegy of his upon Maecenas extant, nor any
account of one having ever been written, which would
probably have been the case, had Horace survived him any
time. Sanadon, -the French editor of Horace, insists that
the poet died before his patron ; and that the recommen-
Voj.. XXL H
98 M JE C E N A 8.
i
dation of him to Augustus was found only ia Maecenas's
will, which had not been altered.
Maecenas is said never to have enjoyed a good state of
health in any part of his life ; and many singularities are
related of his bodily constitution. Thus Pliny tells us,
that he was always in a fever; and that, for three years
before his death, he had not a moment's sleep. Though he
was certainly an extraordinary man, and possessed many
admirable virtues and qualities, yet it is agreed on all
bands that he was very luxurious and effeminate. Seneca
has allowed him to have been a great man, yet censures
him very severely on this head, and thinks that his effemi-
nacy has infected even his style. " Every body knows,"
says he, " how Maecenas lived, nor is there any occasion
for me to describe it : the effeminacy of his walk, the de-
licacy of his manner, and the pride he took in shewing
himself publicly, are things too notorious for me to insist
on. But what ! Is not his style as effeminate as l\imself }
Are not his words as soft and affected as his dress, his
Suipage, the furniture of his house, and his wife ?" Then,
;er quoting some of his poetry, " who does not perceive,"
says he, " that the author of these verses must have been
the man, who was perpetually walking about the city with
his tunic loose, and all the other symptoms of the most
effeminate mind ?" V. Paterculus does not represent
him as less effeminate than Seneca, but dwells more on
his good qualities. " Maecenas," says he, " was of the
equestrian order, but sprung from a most illustrious origin.
He was a man, who, when business required, was able to
undergo any fatigue and watching; who consulted pro-
perly upon all occasions, and knew as well how to execute
what he had consulted ; yet a man, who in seasons of lei*
sure was luxurious, soft, and effeminate, almost beyond a
woman. He was no less dear to Caesar than to Agrippa,
but distinguished by him with fewer honours ; for he al-
ways continued of the equestrian rank, in which he was
born ; not that he could not have been advanced upon the
least intimation, but be never solicited it." His patronage
of men of letters is, after all, the foundation of his fame ;
and having by general consent given a name to the patron$
of literature, bis own can never be forgotten. *
1 Maecenas Meib6mii. — Life, by Schomberg, compiled from Meibouius and
the abbe Richer.— Gent Mag. vol. LXXVL— Saarii Onomast.
MiESTLINUS. W
MjESTLINUS (Michael), a celebrated astronomer of
Germany, whose name deserves to be preserved, was born
about 1542, in the dutchy of Wirtemberg, and spent his
youth in Italy, where he made a public speech in favour of
Copernicus, which served to wean Galileo from Aristotle and
Ptolemy, to whom he had been hitherto entirely devoted.
He returned afterwards to Germany, and became professor
of mathematics at Tubingen ; where he had among bis
scholars the great Kepler. Tycho Brahe, though be did not
assent to Msestlin, has yet allowed him to be an extra-
ordinary person, and well acquainted with the science of
astronomy. Kepler has praised several ingenious inven-
tions of Msestlin's, in his " Astronomia Optica." He died
in 1 590, after having published many works in mathema-
tics and astronomy, among which were his treatises " De
Stella nova Cassiopeia ;" " Ephemerides," according to the
Prutenic Tables, which were first published by Erasmus
Reinoldus in 1551. He published likewise "Thesis d§
Eclipsibus ;v and an " Epitome of Astronomy," &c. *
MAFFEIVEGIO. SeeVEGIO.
MAFFEI (Francis Scipio), a celebrated Italian writer,
and a marquis, was born of an illustrious family at Verona,
in 1675, and was very early associated to the academy of
the Arcadi at Rome. At the age of twenty -seven, he dis-
tinguished himself at Verona, by supporting publicly a thesis
on love, in which the ladies were the judges and assessors;
and displayed at once his talents for gallantry, eloquence,
and poetry. Anxious for glory of all kinds, he made his
next effort in the army, and served as a volunteer at the
battle of Donawert, in 1704; but the love of letters pre*
vailed, and he returned into Italy. There his first literary
enterprise, occasioned by an affair of honour, in which his
elder brother was involved, was an earnest attack upon the
practise of duelling. He brought against it all the argu-
ments to which it is so evidently exposed ; the opposite
practice of the ancients, the suggestions of good sense, the
interests of social life, and the injunctions of religion. He
proceeded then to the drama, and produced his "Merope,"
which was acted with the most brilliant success. Having
thus purified tragedy, he proceeded to render the same
service to comedy, and wrote one entitled " La Ceremo-
nia," which was much applauded. Jn 1732, he visited
\ Martini Bio;. Philos.— Diet, Hist.
H 2
*<to M A F F EI.
France, where be passed four years, caressed itr thfc gwfct-.
est degree for bis talents and learning ; and then Wettt
into England, where he was much esteemed, to Hoi*
fend, and finally td Vienna, and was most hotiourabry *fe-*
eeived by the emperor Charles VI. After setferal ye*t*
thus employed, he returned into Italy, and in litertrry ac*
tivity, extended his attention to altoost every subject of btr-«
than knowledge. He died in 1755, at the age of eighty.
He was gifted with a cornprehensiVe genius, a lively wit,
and a penetrating mind, eaget for discoveries, and Well
dalcolated for miking them. His disposition was cheerful,
sincere, and disinterested, full of zeal for religion, and
&tthftfi in performing its duties. The people of Verona
almost idolized him. During bis last illness they offered
public prayers for his recovery, and the council of state
decreed solemn obsequies after his death, with th£ cere-
mony of a funeral oration ht the cathedral of Verona.
: Lady Mary Wortley Montague, in her letters lately pub-
lished, has given a very lively description of Maffei's em-
ployments: "After having made the tour of Europe in
search 6f antiquities, he fixed his residence in his native
t&toti of Verona, where he erected himself a little empire,
from the general esteem, and a conversation (so they Call
an assembly) which he established in his palace, one of
the largest in that place, and so lu'ckily situated, that it
is between the theatre and the ancient amphitheatre. He
made piazzas heading to each of them, filled with shops,
frfrere were sold coffee, tea, chocolate, all sorts of street-
meats, and in the midst, a court well kept, and sartded,
for the use of those young gentlemen who would exercise
tfaeir managed horses, or show their mistresses their sftfll in
fiding. His gallery was open every evening at five o'clock,
inhere he had a fine collection of antiquities, and two large
cabinets of medals, intaglios, and cameos, arranged ift
exact order. His library joined to it : and on the other sidfe
a suite of five rooms, the first of which was destined to
dancing, the second to cards (but all games of hazard ex-
cluded), and the others (where he himself presided in an
easy chair), sacred to conversation, which always turned
upon some point of learning, either historical or poetical.
Controversy and politics being utterly prohibited, he ge-
nerally proposed the subject, and took great delight in in-
structing the young people, who were obliged to seek the
MAFFEI. JOT
•medal, or explain the inspription that iHustjpteel any fact
they discoursed of. Those who chose the diversion Df the
public walks, or theatre, went thither, but never failed '
returning to give an account of the drama, which produced
a critical dissertation on that st*bject^ the marquis having
given shining proofs of his skill in that art. His tragedy
of " Merope," which is much injured by Voltaire's trans-
lation*, being esteemed a master -piece ; and his <con»edy of
*he " Ceremonies," being a just ridicule of those formal
fopperies* it has gone a great way in helping to banish
them out of Italy. The walkers contributed to the enteiv
taiMaeAt by an account of some herb, or Bower, which led
the tray to a botanical conversation *, or, if they were such
inaccurate observers as to have nothing of that kind to
offer, they repeated some pastoral description. One day
in the week was set apart for music, vocal and instrument-
tal, but no mercenaries were admitted to the concert.
Thus, at a very little expence (his fortune not permitting a
-large one), he had the' happiness of giving his countrymen
a taste of polite pleasure, and shewing the youth how to
pass their time agreeably without debauchery."
The complete catalogue of his works would resemble
•that of a library ; the chief of them are these: 1. " Rime
e prose," Venice, 1719, 4to. 2. "La scienza Cavalle-
resca," Rome, 1710, 4to. This is against duelling, and
has passed through six editions. 3. " Merope," of which
there have been many more editions, and several foreign
versions. 4. " Traduttori Italiani," &c. Venice, 1720,
Svg9 contains an account of the Italian translations from
£he classics. 5. " Theatre Italiano," a selection of Ita-
lian tragedies, in 3 vols. 8vo. 6. " Cassiodori complexi-
ties, in Epistplas <et Acta Apostolorum," &c. Flor. 1721.
ff. *' Istoria Diploipatica," or a critical introduction to
djpknaaus knowledge. 8. w Degli Anfoeatri," on amphi-
theatres, particularly that of Verona, 1723, 9. "Sup-
ptefigHHum Acaciarum," Venice, 1728. 10. " Museum
Vejronense," 1789, folio. Ih «' Verona 11 lustrata," 17 $2,
folio. 12. An Italian translation of the first book of
Homer, in blank verse, printed at London, in 1737.
1& <(La fteligione di Gentili Del morire," 1736, 4to.
.14. " Osservationi Letterarie," intended to serve as a conti-
nuation of the Giornale de' Leterati d' Italia. He published
tdse a work on grace, some editions of the fathers, apd
102 MA FFEt.
other matters. A complete edition of his works was pub5*
lished at' Venice in 1790, in 18 vols. 8vo. l
MAFFEI, or MAFFjEUS (John Peter), a learned Je-
suit, was born at Bergamo in 1536, and was instructed by
his uncles Basil and Chrysostom Zanchi, canons regular
of that city, in Greek, Latin, philosophy and theology.
His studies being finished he went to Rome, where his
talents became so well known that several princes invited
him to settle in their dominions, but he gave the prefer-
ence to Genoa, where in 1563 he was appointed professor
of eloquence, with an ample salary. He continued in that
office two years, and was chosen to the office, of secretary
of state; but iix 1565, he returned to Rome, where he
entered into the society of Jesuits. He spent six years as
professor of eloquence in the Roman college, during which
he translated, into the Latin language, the history of the
Indies by Acosta, which was published in 1570. He then
went to Lisbon at the request of cardinal Henry, and com-
piled from papers and other documents with which he was
'to be furnished, a complete history of 'the Portuguese con-
quests in the Indies, and of the progress of the Christian
religion in that quarter. He returned to Italy in 1581,
and some years after was placed, by Clement VIII. in the
Vatican, for the purpose of continuing, in the Latin lan-
guage, the annals of Gregory XIII. begun by him in the
Italian ; of this he had finished three books at the time of
his death, which happened at Tivoli Oct. 20, 1603. Soon
after he entered among the Jesuits he wrote the life of
Ignatius Loyola; but his principal work is entitled '* Histo-
riarum Indicarum," lib. XVI. written in a very pure style,
which has been frequently reprinted. The best edition is
in two volumes 4to, printed at Bergamo in 1747. The
purity of his style was the effect of great labour. Few
men ever wrote so slowly ; nothing seemed to please him,
and he used to pass whole hours in polishing his periods ;
but we cannot readily credit all that has been reported on
this subject, as that be never could finish above twelve or
fifteen lines in a day; that he was twelve years in writing
his history of the Indies, and that, to prevent his mind
being tainted with bad Latin, he read his bretiiary in Greek.
There are, however, some other particulars of his personal
1 Fabreni Vitae Italorum.— Moreri,— .Diet, Hist,— Lady. M. W. Mootqgne'ft
Works, vol. IV. p. 266, edit. 1803.
M A F F E'L IDS
history which correspond a little with all this. He disliked
the ordinary commons of the Jesuits9 college, and had al-
ways something very nice and delicate provided for hitri,
considering more substantial and gross food as incompati-
ble with elegant writing ; yet with all this care, he was of
such an irascible temper as to be perpetually giving offence,
and perpetually asking pardon.1
MAGALHAENS (Ferdinand de), better known by the
name of Magellan, an eminent navigator, was by birth a
Portuguese. He served with much reputatiou during five
years under Albuquerque, in the East Indies, particularly
at the conquest of Malacca in 1510, but as his services
were not well repaid, he accepted from Charles V. king of
Spain, the command of a fleet, with which, in 1519, he
discovered the straits called after himself at the extremity
of South America. Soon after this he took possession of
the Ladrone and Philippine islands in the name of Charles
V. ; and had be acted with prudence, might have had the
honour of being accounted the first circumnavigator of the
globe. His severities, however, towards the natives of
Matan, compelled them to resist ; aqd in the contest Ma-
galhaens received a wound from an arrow in the leg, and
being ill supported by his men, he was killed by a lance, in
1521.*
MAGALHAENS (John Hyacinth de), said to be a
lineal descendant (Mr. Nichols says great-grandson) of the
preceding, was born in 1723, and became an Augustine
monk at Lisbon, but, having renounced the Roman Catho-
lic religion, came to reside in England, about 1764. He
was an able linguist, and well versed in chemistry and
other branches of natural philosophy. He published seve-
ral treatises in that science, particularly a work on mine-
ralogy,' taken principally from Cronstadt ; an account of
various philosophical instruments ; and a narrative of the
last days of Rousseau, to which his name is not affixed.
He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1774, and
was a member of. several foreign academies. He died at
his lodgings at Islington, Feb. 7, 1790. 3
MAGALOTTI (Laurence), a celebrated philosopher
and mathematician, Waft born at Rome October 23, 1637.
1 Niceron, vol. V.— Moreri. — BibK Do Maine et Du Verdier, vol. IT;
* Jtallart's Academic des Sciences, vol. II.— Rees's Cyclopaedia. — Buroey's
Ifrooveries in the South Safe
* Nichols's fiowyer, vol. Vill.^Lvioos'a Eotfroas, toJ. {11.
104 MAG A L O TT L
After studying jurisprudence, in which he made a great
and very rapid progress at Pisa, be begail to devote bis
main attention to mathematics and natural philosophy,
which he cultivated at Florence, during three years, under
the celebrated Vincent Viviani, and was made secretary to
the academy del Cimento, the duties of which office be
discharged with the utmost assiduity and care. Being di-
rected by the prince to draw up an account of the experi-
ments made there, he published it in 1666, when it was
received with universal applause by men of science. While
engaged on this work, he obtained leave from Leopold to
pay a visit to his father at Rome, and with a view to obtain
some ecclesiastical promotion. Having failed in this ob-
ject, he returned to Florence, and obtained a place at the
court of the grand duke Ferdinand II. ; and shortly after a
pension was given him by pope Alexander VII. About
1666 he drew up and published a small volume relative to
the history of China, which was received with great ap-
plause ; and at the same time he published a small, but
elegant compendium of the Moral Doctrine of Confucius.
Having considerable poetical talents, he was the first per-
son who published a good translation of the Odes of Ana -
creon in Italian verse. He was very conversant in many
of the modern languages, and could write and speak
French, Spanish, and English, with the correctness and
ease of the natives of those countries. When in England
he became the intimate friend of the illustrious Mr. Robert
Boyle, whom he vainly attempted to convert from the
errors of the protestant faith. After being employed in
several missions to foreign princes, he was in 1674 ap-
pointed ambassador to the imperial court, where he ac-
quired the particular favour of the emperor, and formed
connections with the men most eminent for science and
literature ; but, finding a very inconvenient delay of the
necessary pecuniary remittances from his court, he deter-
mined to return to Florence without waiting the permission
of the duke Shortly after, that prince recalled him, and
gave him apartments in his palace, with a considerable
pension, but Magalotti preferred retirement, and the c^tttet
prosecution of his studies. I» 1684 he c composed fifteen
Italian odes, in which he has drawn the picture of a wq-
man of noble .birth and exqpisite . beauty, distinguished
not only by every personal, but by every mental charm,
and yet rendering herself chiefly the object of admiration
M A G A L O T T I. 101
and delight by her manners and conduct, whom, with no
great gallantly, he entitled " The Imaginary Lady." His
next work consisted of Letters against Atheists, in which
bis learning and philosophy appear to great advantage. la
1689 be was appointed a counsellor of state to the grand
duke, who sent him "his ambassador into Spain to nego-
tiate a marriage between one of his daughters and king
Charles II. ; but soon after be had accomplished the object
of this mission, he sunk into a temporary melancholy. Afteif
recovering in about a year, he resumed his literary labours,
and published works upon various subjects, and left others
which were given to the world after his decease, which
happened in 1712, when he had attained the age of 75.
Magalotti was as eminent for his piety as he was for his
literary talents ; unimpeachable in his mprela, liberal, be-
neficent, friendly, polite, and a lively and cheerful, as
well as very instructive companion. His house was the
constant resort of men of letters from all countries, whom
he treated with elegant hospitality. He was deeply con-
versant with the writings of the ancient philosophers, and
was a follower of the Platonic doctrine in his poems. In bis
natural and philosophical investigations he discarded all
authority, and submitted to no other guide but experiment.
Among the moderns he was particularly attached to Gali-
leo. After his death a medal was struck in honour of his
memory, with the figure of Apollo raised on the reverse,
and the inscription Omkia Lustrat.
His principal works are, 1. " Saggi di naturali^sperienne
fatte nel academia de Cimento," &c. 1666, fol. reprinted
in 1691. 2. " Lettera proemiale per la traduzione della
ooncordia dei quattro 'Evangeliste di Giansenio,,t &c. 1680,
with various other translations, the titles of which may be
seen in Fabroni. 3. " Lettere familiare,** Venice, 1761,
4te, written against the Atheists. A second volume ap-
peared in 1 768. 4: M Lettere scientificfee," Florence, 1721,
4to. 6. ,c danzonette AnacreoMichfcdi Lindoro Eleato"
(his academical name), Florence, 1723, &c. A long list is
given fey Fabroni of hw unpublished #<jrk«;' but neither
these no* his printed works ate much known in England or
Fifctfee.*
MAGGI, or MAGIUS {tft/ROfttE), an ingenious an*
learned tottta bf^ttte sixteentffr<eentury, was born at Anghi-
106 M A G G I.
ari in Tuscany. He was educated in the Italian universi-
ties, where his genius' and application carried him almost
through the whole circle of sciences ; for, besides the belies
lettres and law, he applied to the study of war, and even
wrote books upon the subject. In this also he afterwards
distinguished himself: for he was sent by the Venetians to
the isle of Cyprus, with the commission of judge-martial ;
.and when the Turks besieged Famagosta, he performed all
the services to the place that could have been expected
from a skilful engineer. He contrived a kind of mine and
fire-engines, by which he laid the labours of the Turks in
ruins : and he destroyed in a moment works which had
Cost them no small time and pains. But they had too
good an opportunity of revenging themselves on him ; for
the city falling at last into their hands, in 1571, Magius
became their slave, and was used very barbarously. His
comfort lay altogether, in the stock of learning with which
he was provided ; and so prodigious was his memory, that
he did not think himself unqualified, though deprived en-
tirely of books, to compose. treatises full of quotations* As
he was obliged all the day to do the drudgery of the
meanest slave, he spent a great part of the night in writ-
ing. He wrote in prison a treatise upon bells, " De tin-
tinnabulis," and another upon the wooden horse, " De
equuleo," He was determined to the first of these sub-
jects by observing, that the Turks had no bells ; and to,
the second, by ruminating upon the various kinds of tor-
ture to which his dismal situation exposed him, which
brought to his reflection, that the equukus had never been
thoroughly explained. He dedicated the first of these
treatises to the emperor's ambassador at Constantinople, and
the other to the French ambassador -at the same place.
He conjured these ambassadors to use their interest for his
liberty ; which while they attempted to procure him, they
only hastened bis death : for the bashaw Mahoiqet, whQ
had not forgot the mischief* which Magius had done the
Tyrks at the siege of Famagosta, being informed that he
had been at the Imperial ambassador's house, wbitber they
had indiscreetly carried him, caused him to. be seized
again, and strangled that night in prison. This happened
in 1572, or 1573, it is not certain which.
The books which he published before he went to Cyprus,
are, 1. " De mundi exitio per exustionem libri quinque,"
Basil, 1562, folio. 2. " Vitee Hltmrium virorum, auctore
M A G G I. 107
&milio Probo, cum commentariis," Basil, folio. 3. ".Corti-
mentaria in quatuor institutionum civilium libros," Lugd.
8vo. 4. " Miscellanea, sive varice lectiones," Venet. 1564,
8to. He also published some books in Italian ; the most
celebrated of which is his " Delia forttficatione delle
citta," which contains an account of his machines and in-
struments.
There were other men of considerable eminence in Italy
of the same name, among whom we may enumerate, a
brother of the preceding, Bartholomew Maqqi, a phy-
sician at Bologna, who wrote a treatise in Latin, " On the
Cure of Gun-shot Wounds/' Bologna, 1552, 4to; Vin-
cent Mag«i, a native of Brescia, and celebrated professor
of ethics at Ferrara and Padua, author of several works ;
Francis Maria Maggi, who published " Syntagmata lin-
guarum Georgia," Romae, 1670, folio; and lastly, Charles
Maria Maggi, an Italian poet of the seventeenth century,
and one of the restorers of good taste in Italy, after the
barbarous ravages of the school of Marini. He was born '
at Milan in 1630, and was secretary to the senate of that
city. He died in 1690, and his works were published in
the following year by Muratorf, at Milan, in 4 vols. 12mo.
This poet is Mentioned with very high encomiums in the
letters between Mrs. Carter and Miss Talbot. The dow-
ager lady Spencer also, when resident at Pisa, published
a " Scelta" of his works ; and in 1811, " The Beauties" of
C. M. Maggi, " paraphrased,'9 were published by Mariane
Starke. *
MAGINI (John -Anthony), or Maginus, professor of
mathematics in the university of Bologna, was born at
Padua in 1536. . He was remarkable for his great assi-
duity in acquiring and improving the knowledge of the
mathematical sciences, with several new inventions for these
purposes, and for the extraordinary favour he obtained
from most princes of his time. This doubtless arose partly
from the celebrity he had in matters of astrology, to which
he was greatly addicted, making horoscopes, and foretell-
ing events both relating to persons and things. He was
invited by the emperor Rodolphus to come to Vienna,
where he promised him a professor's chair, about 1597;
but not being able to prevail on him to settle there, he
nevertheless gave him a handsome pension.
»G«n, Dict—Nictron, vol. XY1H— Fabrooi, vol. XVIL— Brit»h Critic,
vol. XXXVII.
toy M A G I N I.
*
i
It is said, be was so mych addicted to astrological pre*
dictions, that be not only foretold many good and evil
events relative to others with success, but even foretold his
own death, which came to pass the same year : all which
he represented as under the influence of the scars. Tama*
sini says, that Magini, being advanced to his 6 1st y4ar,
was struck with an apoplexy, which ended his days ; and
that a long while before, he had told him and others, that
be was afraid of thai year. And Hoffeni, his pupil, says,
that Magtni died under an aspect of the planets, which,
according to bis own prediction, would prove fatal to him ;
and he mentions Riccioli as affirming that he said, the
figure of his nativity, and his climacteric year, doomed
him to die about that time; which happened in 1616, in
the 6£d year of his age.
His writings do honour to his memory, as they were
very considerable, and upon learned subjects. The prin-
cipal were die following: 4. His £pheuieris, in 3 volumes,
from the year 1580 to 1630. 2. Tables of Secondary Mo*
tions. 3. Astronomical, Gnomonical, and Geographical Pro-
blems. 4. Theory of the Planets, according to Coperni-
cus. 5. A Confutation of Scaliger's Dissertation concern-
ing the Precession of the Equinox. 6. A Primum Mobile,
in 12 books. 7. A Treatise of Plane and Spherical Trigo-
nometry. 8. A Commentary on Ptolomy's Geography.
9. A Cborographical Description of the Regions and Cities
of Italy, illustrated with 60 maps ; with some other papers
on astrological subjects.1
MAGLIABECHI (Anthony), one of the most cele-
brated, and certainly one of the most extraordinary men
of bis time, was born at Florence, Oct. 28 or 29, 163 3.
His parents, who were of low rank, are said to have been
satisfied when they got him into the service of a man who
sold fruit and herbs. He had never learned to read, and
yet was perpetually poring over the leaves of old books,
that were used as waste paper in his master's shop. A
bookseller who lived in the neighbourhood, and who bad
often observed this, and knew the boy could not read,
asked him one day, " what he meant by staring so much
on printed paper 1" He said, " chat he did not know how
it was, but that be loved it ; that he was very uneasy in
the business he *as in, and should be the happiest creature
;v*l. XKVL~4Hitk»'« Bpct— Martin* *feg> Pfck*.— Go*. Diet.
M A C L I A B £ C H L 100
in the wbrid, If he could life vrith him, who had always §6
jfrany books abtut him/' The bookseller, pleated with
his answer, consented to take him, if taskmaster was willing
to part with him. Young Magliabechi thanked htm with
tears in his eyes, and having obtained bis master's Wave,
went directly to bis new employment, which be had not
followed long before be eoiiM find any book that was asked
for, as ready as the bookseller himself. This account of
bis early life, which Mr. Spenee received from a gentle-
man of Florence, who was well acquainted with Magliabe-
chi and his family, differs considerably from that given by
Niceron, Tiraboscbi, ami Fabroni. From the latter, in*
deed, we learn that he was placed as an apprentice to a
goldsmith, after he had been taught the principles of
drawing, and he had a brother that was educated to the
law, and made a considerable figure in that profession.
His father died while he was an infant, but Fabroni makes
no mention of his poverty. It seems agreed, however, that
after he had learned to read, that became his sole employ-
ment, but he never applied himself to any particular study.
He read every book almost indifferently, as tbey happened
to come into his hands, with a surprizing quickness; and
yet such was his prodigious memory, that be not only de-
tained the sense of what he read, but often all the words,
and the very manner of spelling them, if there was any
thing peculiar of that kind in any author.
This extraordinary application, and talents, soon recom-
mended him to Ermini, librarian to the cardinal de Me-
dic is, and to Marmi, the grand duke's librarian, who in-
troduced him into the company of the literati, and made
him known at court. Every where be began to be looked
upon as a prodigy, particularly for his vast and unbounded
memory, of which many remarkable anecdotes have been
given. A gentleman at Florence, who had written a piece
that was to be printed, lent the manuscript to Magliabechi;
and some time after it had been returned with thanks, •
came to him again with the story of a pretended accident
by which he had lost his manuscript. The author seemed
inconsolable, and intreated Magliabechi, whose character
for remembering what he read was already very great,
to try to recollect as much of it as he possibly could, and
Write it down for him against his next visit. Magliabechi
assured him he would, and wrote down the whole MS.
without' missing a word, or even varying any where from
110 MAGLIABECrfL
the spelling. Whatever qur readers may think of this trial
of his memory, it is certain that by treasuring up at least
the subject and the principal parts of all the books he ran
over, his head became at last, as one of his acquaintances
expressed it to Mr. Spence, " An universal index both of
titles and matter.9'
By this time Magliabechi was become so famous for the
vast extent of his reading, and his amazing retention of
what he had read, that he was frequently consulted by the
learned, when meditating a work on any subject For ex-
ample, and a curious example it is, if a priest was going to
compose a panegyric on any saint, and came to consult
Magliabechi, he would immediately tell him, who had said
any thing of that saint, and in what part of their works,
and that sometimes to the number of above an hundred
authors. He would tell not only who had treated of the
subject designedly, but point out such as bad touched upon
it only incidentally ; both which he did with the greatest
exactness, naming the author, the book, the words, and
often the very number of the page ih which they were in-
serted. All this he did so often, so readily, and 60 exactly^
that he came at last to be looked upon as an oraple, on ac-
count of the ready and full answers that he gave to all
questions, that were proposed to him in any faculty or
science whatever. The same talent induced the grand
duke Cosmo III. to appoint him his librarian, and no man
perhaps was ever better qualified for the situation, or more
happy to accept it. He was also very conversant with
the books in the Laureutian library, and the keeping of
those of Leopold and Francis Maria, the two cardinals of
Tuscany. Yet all this, it is said, did not appease his vo-
racious appetite ; he was thought to have read all the books
printed before his time, and all in it. Doubtless this
range, although v^ry extensive, must be understood of
Italian literature only or principally. Crescembini paid
him the highest compliment on this. Speaking of a dis-
pute whether a certain poem had ever been printed or not,
he concluded it had not, " because Magliabechi had never
seen it." We learn farther that it was a general custom
for authors and printers to present him with a copy of
whatever they printed, which must have been a consider*
able help towards the very large collection of books which
he himself made.
MAGLIABECHL 111
His mode of reading in his latter days is said to have
been this.. When a book first came into his hands, he
would look over the title-page, then dip here and there in
the preface, dedication and advertisements, if there were
any ; ajid then cast his eyes on each of the divisions, the
different sections, or chapters, and then he would be able
to retain the contents of that volume in his memory, and
produce them if wanted. Soon after he had adopted this
method of what Mr. Spence* calls " fore-shortening his
reading," a priest who had composed a panegyric on one
of his favourite saints, brought it to Magliabechi as a
present. He read it over in his new way, the title-page
and heads of the chapters, &c. and then thanked the priest
very kindly " for his excellent treatise." The author, in
some pain, asked him, " whether that was all that he
intended to read of his book?" Magliabechi coolly an-
swered, " Yes, for I know very well every thing that is
in it." This anecdote, however, may be explained other-
wise than upon the principles of memory. Magliabechi
knew all that the writers before had said of this saint, and
be knew this priest's turn and character, and thence judged
what he would chuse out of them and what he would omit.
Magliabechi had even a local memory of the place where
every book stood, as in his master's shop at first, and in
the Pitti, and several other libraries afterwards ; and seems
to have carried this •farther than only in relation to the
collections of books with which he was personally ac-
quainted. One day the grand duke sent for him after he
was his librarian, to ask him whether he . could get him a
book that was particularly scarce. " No, sir," answered
Magliabechi ; " for there is but one in the world ; that is
in the grand signior's library at Constantinople, and is the
seventh book on the second shelf on the right hand as you
go in." Though this extraordinary man must have lived a
sedentary life, with the most intense and almost perpetual
application to books, yet he arrived to a good old age.
He died in his eighty-first year, July 14, 1714. By his
will he left a very fine library of his own collection for the
use of the public, with a fund to maintain it ; and what-
ever should remain over to the poor. By the funds which
he left, by the addition of several other collections, and
the bounty- of some of the grand dukes, his library was
so much augmented as to vie with some of the most cor**
jiderable in Europe. Of this collection, a catalogue and
lit M A Gil A B E C H 1.
description of the works primed in the fifteenth century
was published by Fossi, under the title " Catalogus codi-
cum seeculo XV impressorum in Bibliotheca Magliabe-
chiana, Florentise adservantur," Florence, 3 vols. foK 1735
—1795.
r Of the domestic habits of Magliabechi, we have many
accounts that represent him as an incorrigible sloven. His
Attention was so entirely absorbed by his books and studies,
that he totally neglected all the decencies of form and
ceremony, and often forgot the most urgent wants of hu-
man nature. His employment under the grand duke did
not at all change his manner of life : the philosopher still
continued negligent in his dress, and simple in his man-
ners. An old cloak served him for a gown in the day, and
for bed-clothes at night. He had one straw chair for his
table, and another for his bed ; in which he generally con-
tinued fixed among bis books till he was overpowered by
aleep< The duke provided a commodious apartment for
him in his palace ; of wbich Magliabechi was with much
difficulty persuaded to take possession ; and which he
quitted in four months, returning to his house on various
pretences, against all the remonstrances of his friends.
He was, however, characterized by an extraordinary mo*
desty, and by a sincere and beneficent disposition, which his
friends often experienced in their wants. He was a great
patron of men of learning, and had the highest pleasure in
assisting them with his advice and information, in furnish-
ing, them with all necessary books and manuscripts. Car-
dinal Noris used to call 'him his Maecenas; and, writing to
him one day, he told him he thought himself more obliged
to him for direction in his studies, than to the pope for
raisingr him to the purple. He had the utmost aversion
to any thing that looked like constraint. The grand duke
knew his disposition, and therefore always dispensed with
his personal attendance upon him ;. and, when he had
any orders to give him, sent him them in writing. The
pope and the emperor would gladly have drawn him into
their service, but he constantly refused their most ho-
nourable and advantageous offers. The regimen he ob-
served contributed not a little to preserve his health to old
age. He always kept his head warmly covered, and took
at certain times treacle, which he esteemed an excellent
preservative against noxious vapours. . He loved strong
wine, bfit drank it in small quantities. He lived Upon the
MAGLIABECHI. 113
plainest and roost ordinary food. Three hard eggs and a
dranrght of water was his usual repast. He took tobacco,
to which he was a slave, to excess ; but was absolute mas-
ter of himself in every other article.
He died in the midst of the public applause, after en-
joying, during all the latter part of his life, such an
affluence as very few persons have ever procured by their
knowledge or learning, and which, as he had acquired
honourably, he bestowed liberally.
Though he oever composed any work himself, yet the
commonwealth of learning are greatly obliged to hira for
several, the publication of which was owing to him; such
as the Latin poems of Henry de Settimello, the " Hodoe-
poricon" of Ambrose Carnal du la, the " Dialogue" of Be-
nedict Aretin, and many others. A collection of letters
addressed to him by literary men was printed at Florence
in 1745, but is said to be incomplete. *
MAGNI, or MAGNUS (Valerian), a celebrated Ca-
puchin, born at Milan in 1586, descended from the earls
of Magni, acquired great reputation in the seventeenth
century by his controversial writings against the protestants,
and philosophical ones in favour of Descartes against
Aristotle. He passed through the highest offices in his
Order, and was apostolical missionary to the northern king<-
doms. It was by his advice that pope Urban VIII. abo*
lished the Jesuitesses in 1631. Uladislaus king of Poland,
solicited a cardinal's hat for Magni; but the Jesuits arc
said to have opposed it. They certainly informed against
him as a heretic, because he had said that the pope's primacy
and infallibility were not founded on scripture, and he was
imprisoned at Vienna ; but regained his liberty by favour
of the emperor Ferdinand III. after having written very
warmly against the Jesuits in his defence, tie retired at
last to Saltzburg, and died there, 1661, aged seventy-
five. Mention is made of Magni in the sixteenth Pro-
vincial Letter ; and one of his Apotogetical Letters may be
found in the collection entitled " Tuba magna, n torn. II.*
MAGNOL (Peter), a celebrated botanist of Mont-
pellier, was born in 1638. He Was bredTfo physic, but,
being a protestaut, could not take his degree there. He
appears, however, afterwards to have obtained i't elsewhere,
i •
i Tirnboeehi^-Fabroni Vit® Jjtalprum, fql. ^VIJ.— f*ic^on,.r*1. iV«-^
Spence's Paralfel.
* Gen. Diet.— Mors*.— L'AvocaV Diet. Hist. '
Vol. XXI. I
*14 MAGNOL
and practised physic ajt Montpeilier for a long course of
.years, and at the same time very assiduously cultivated
botany, with the most enlarged views to its advancement
as a science. He was beloved for his urbanity, and esteemed
for his knowledge. Numerous botanists flocked at this
time to Montpeilier, that neighbourhood being famous for
its vegetable riches ; and these were all eager to enjoy the
society, and to benefit by the guidance and instructions of
so able a man. Among the pupils of Magnol were Fagoo
and the illustrious Tournefort, who regularly studied under
him, and on many subsequent occasions gratefully acknow-
ledged their obligations to him. He was not chosen pub-
lic professor till 1694, when he assumed the guise at least
of Catholicism.
In 1676 our author published at Lyons his first work,
the " Botanicum Monspeliense," republished at Montpei-
lier in 1688, with a new title-page and appendix. In this1
book all the plants enumerated are found wild about Mont-
peilier, and almost entirely gathered there by the author
himself. It is, in fact, one of the most original. and au-
thentic works of its kind, being to the Montpeilier bo-
tanists what Ray's Synopsis is to those of Britain, the basis
of all their knowledge. In 1689 Magnol published an
octavo volume entitled " Prodromus Historic Generalis
Plantarum," in which he undertook a scheme of natural
arrangement, according to the method of Ray, deduced
from all the parts of a plant; and the vegetable kingdom
is. disposed into 76 families,, subdivided into genera. In
1607 appeared the " Horfcus Regius Monspeliensis," 8vo,
an alphabetical catalogue of the garden, in which several
new or rare species are described as well as figured. In
their generic distribution the author conforms to Tourne-
fort principally, and his preface shews how much he bad
contemplated this subject and its difficulties. When we
consider that Magnol had had the care of the garden only
three years previous to the publication of this rich cata-
logue, and that he found the collection in a very poor
state, the book is an honourable monument of his in-
dustry as well as knowledge.
In 1708 Magool was admitted a member of the 'academie
des sciences of Paris, in the place of his distinguished
friend Tournefort, and contributed some papers to their
memoirs. He died in 1715, at the age of seventy-seven.
He left a son, named Anthony, who was professor of phy-
M A G N O" L/ US
sic at Montpellier, but not of Botany. To this ton we are'
indebted for the publication of the " Novus Character
Plantarum," on which the fame of Magnol as a systematic
botanist chiefly rests. This posthumous work appeared ia
1720, making a quarto volume of 341 pages. The system
therein taught is much celebrated by Linnaeus, who in his
Classes Plantarum, 375— -403, gives a general view of it,
expressing his wonder that so new and singular a system
had not made more proselytes. That noble genus of trees
or shrubs, called the Magnolia, received that name from
Plumier, in honour of our author. l
MAGNON (John), a French poet of the seventeenth
century, was bred up as an advocate, and for some time
followed that profession at Lyons. He then became a
dramatic writer, and produced several pieces, of which
the least bad is a tragedy called Artaxerxes ; this has some
plot, good sentiments, and characters tolerably supported.
He then conceived the extraordinary project of writing an
encyclopaedia in verse, which was to consist of ten volumes,
each containing twenty thousand verses. Being asked,
after some time, when this work would be finished ? ^ Very
Soon," said he, " I have now only a hundred thousand
verses to write." His project, however, was cutoff, not-
withstanding this near approach to its conclusion, as he
was murdered by thieves at Paris, in 1662. His verses
were bad enough to account for bis facility in producing
them, yet he was a friend of Moliere. A part of his great
work appeared in folio in 1663, with the magnificent title
of " Science Universelle ." The preface was still mo?£
pompous : " Libraries," says he, " will hereafter be for
ornament only, not use." Yet how few contain this won-
derful work ! 2
MAGNUS (John), archbishop of Upsal, in Sweden, was
born at Lincopingin 1488; was a violent oppdser of the
pro test ant religion, and laboured much, though in vain,
to prevent the king, Gustavus, from introducing it into
his kingdom, Magnus, being persecuted on this account,
retired to Rome, where he was received with great marks
of regard, and died therein 1544. He was author of, t.
" A History of Sweden," in twenty-four books, published
in 1554, in folio. 2." A History of the Archbishops of
1 From an interesting article in Reea's Cyclopedia, by tir J. E. Smith.
* Moreri.— Diet. Hist-— A copy of t his " Science UnirerseUe" is in the British.
Museum.
I 2
UB MAGNUS.
UpsaV' which he carried down aa low as 1544. This was
aisc in folkv and, appeared in \$S7 and 1560. *
MAGNUS (Olaus), brother of the former, and his sue-
oesfor in the archbishopric of Upsal, distinguished himself
at the council of Trent, and buffered in Sweden, as his
brother also had done, many vexations from his attach-
ment to the Roman catholic persuasion. His work, by
which ha is very generally known, is " A History of the
manners, customs, and war* of the People of the North."
This contains many curious particulars, but many also tfhat
are minute, and several that are doubtful ; nor does the
author ever fail to display his animosity against the pro-
testants. He died at Rome in \555.1
MAHOMET, or MOHAMMED, founder of the system
of religious imposture called Mahometanism, was born in
the year 569, at Mecca, a city of Arabia, of the tribe of the
Komhites, which was reckoned the noblest in all that
country ; and was descended in a direct line from Pher
Koraish, the founder of it. Yet in the beginning of his
Ufe he #as in a very poor condition ; for his father dying
before be was two years old, and while his grandfather was
Mill living, all the power and wealth of his family devolved
to his uncles, especially Abu Taleb. Abu Tafeb, after
the death of his father, bore the chief sway in Mecca du-
ring the whole of a very long life ; and it was under his
protection chiefly, that Mahomet, when he first began to
propagate his imposture, was sufficiently supported against
&U Opposers, so as to be able, after his death, to establish
it through all Arabia by his own power.
Aftef his father's death he continued under the tuition
x)f his mot-feet, till the eighth year of his age ; when she also
dying, he was taken home to his grandfather, who at his
death, which happened the year after, committed him to
the care of bis uncle Abu Taleb, to be educated by him.
Abii Taleb, being a merchant,* taught him his business*
and, as soon as he was of sufficient age, sent him with his
camels into Syria ; in which employment he continued
♦mftter his ttnele till the 25th year of his age. One of the
chief flfren of the city then dying, and his widow, whose
name was Cadiga, wanting a factor to manage her stock,
/she invited Mahomet into her service. He accepted her
i Chaufepie.— Nrceron, vol. XXXV.
< « Nk*Ton, roi. XXXV.— Bibl. du Verdi* r, toU III. p. 135.
MAHOMET. 417
terms, traded three years for her at Damascus and otbfr
places, and acquitted himself in this charge so .much to
her satisfaction, that, about the twenty-eighth year of hip
age, she gave herself to him in marriage, although sbeiwajs
twelve years older. From being her servant he was now
advanced to be master of both her person and fortune;
and, finding himself equal in wealth to the best men of
the city, he began to entertain ambitious thoughts of posr
sessing the sovereignty over it. , -i
- Among the various means to effect this, none $eetm$4
to him more eligible than that imposture which he after-
wards published with so much success, and so much mis?
xhief to thexworld. The extensive trade which he carried
on in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, having made him w$tjl
acquainted with both Christians and Jews, and given bioa
an opportunity of observing with what eagerness they an 4
the several sects into which the Christians of the Eastwer*
then miserably divided, engaged against each other, h?
concluded that nothing would be more likely to gain 9
party firm to him for the attaining the ends at which bj
aimed, than the invention of a new religion. In thjs>
however, he proceeded lejsu rely ; for it was not till hi?
thirty-eighth year that he began to prepare his design*
,He then withdrew himself from his former way of livings
which is said to have been very licentious and wicked ;
and, affecting an hermit's life, used every morning tq
retire into a solitary cave near Mecca, called the Cave of
Rira ; and there continued all day, exercising himself, a$
he pretended, in prayers, fastings, and holy meditations.
Thus he went on for two years, during which time h§
gained over his wife Cadiga, who was his first proselyte,
oy pretending visions which be had seen, and voices which
he had heard, in* his retirement. It is to be observed,
says Dr. Prideaux, that Mahomet began this imposture
about the same time that the bishop of Rome, by virtue,
of a grant from the tyrant Ph ocas, first assumed the title
of universal pastor. Phocas made this grant in the year
606, and Mahomet in the same year retired to his cave to
contrive that deception which be beg^n in the year 608
to propagate at Mecca.
In his fortieth year, Mahomet h§gan to t^ke upon him,
the style of the Apostle pf God, ami under that character
to ca,rry on the plan which h$ bfl|d now contrived ; but for
four years bf confiue4 &*> ^QCtrins? f# such as be either
118 MAHOMET.
bad most confidence in, or thought himself most likely to
'gain. When he had gained a few disciples, some of whom,
however, were the principal men of the city, he began to
publish it to the people at Mecca, in his forty-fourth year,
and openly to declare himself a prophet sent by God, to
convert them from the error of paganism, and to teach
them the true religion. On his first appearance, he was
treated with derision and contempt, and called by the peo-
ple a sorcerer, magician, liar, impostor, and teller of fables;
of which he frequently complains in the Koran ; so that
for the first year he made little or no progress. But per-
severing in his design, which he managed with great ad-
dress, he afterwards gained so many proselytes, that in the
fifth year of his pretended mission, he had increased his
party to the number of thirty-nine, himself making the
fortieth. People now b^gan to be alarmed at the progress
he made. Those who were addicted to the idolatry of
their forefathers, stood up to oppose him as an enemy of
their gods, and a dangerous innovator in their religion.
Others, who saw further into his designs, thought it time
to put a stop to them, for the sake of preserving the
government, at which they thought he aimed : and there-
fore they combined together against him, and intended to
have cut him off with the sword. But Abu Taleb, his uncle,
defeated their design ; and by his power, as being chief
of the tribe, preserved him from many other attempts of
the same nature ; for though Abu Taleb himself persisted
in the paganism of bis ancestors, yet he had so much
affection for the impostor, as being his kinsman, and one
that was bred up in his house, and under his care, that he
extended his full protection to Mahomet as long«as he lived. ,
The principal arguments, which Mahomet employed to
delude men into a belief of this imposture, were promises
and threats, both well calculated to influence the affections
of the vulgar. His promises were chiefly of Paradise,
which with great art he framed agreeably to the taste of
the Arabians t for they, lying within the torrid zone, were,
through the nature of their climate, as well as the corrup-
tion of their manners, exceedingly given to the love of
women ; and the scorching heat and dryness of the coun-
try, making rivers of water, cooling drinks, shaded gar-
dens, and pleasant fruits, most refreshing and delightful
unto them, they were from hence apt to place their
highest enjoyment in things of this nature. For this rea-
MAHOMET. 11*
son, be made the joys of hU Paradise to consist totally in
these particulars ; which he promises them abundantly in
many places of the Koran. On the contrary, he described
the punishments of hell, which he threatened to all who
would not believe in him, to consist of such torments as
would appear to them the most afflicting and grievous to
be borne ; as, " that they should drink nothing but boil-
ing and stinting water, nor breathe any thing but exceed-
ing hot winds, things most terrible in Arabia;, that they
should dwell for ever in continual fire, excessively burning,
and be surrounded with a black hot salt smoke, us with a
coverlid, &c." and, that he might omit nothing which could
work on their fears, he terrified them with the threats of.
grievous punishments in this life. To which purpose be
expatiated, upon all occasions, on the terrible calamities
which had befallen such as would not be instructed by the
prophets who were sent before him; how the old world
was destroyed by water, for not being reformed at the
preaching of Noah; how Sodom was consumed by fire
from heaven, for not hearkening to Lot when sent unto
them ; and how the Egyptians were plagued for despising
Moses : for he allowed the divinity of both the Old and
New Testament, and that Moses and Jesus Christ were
prophets sent from God ; but alledged that the Jews and
Christians -had corrupted those sacred books, and that he
was sent to purge them from those corruptions, and to
restore the law of God to that original purity in which it
was firsb delivered. And this is the reason, that most of
the passages which he takes out of the Old and New Tes-
taments, appear different in the Koran from what we find
tbem in those sacred books.
Mahomet pretended to receive all his revelations from
the angel Gabriel, who, he said, was sent from God, on
purpose to deliver them unto him. He was subject, it is
said, to the falling-sickness, and whenever the fit was upon
him, be pretended it to be a trance, and that then the
angel -Gabriel was come from God with some new revela-
tions. These revelations lie arranged in several chapters ;
which make -up the Koran, the Bible of the Mahometans.
The original of this book was laid up, as he taught his fol-
lowers, in the archives of heaven ; and the angel Gabriel
brought him the copy of it, chapter by chapter, as occa-
sion required that they should be published to the people ;
that is, as often -as any new measure w?s to be pursued,
13* MAHOMET.
any objection against him or bis religion to be answered,
any difficulty to be solved, any discontent among bis peo-
ple to be quieted, any offence to be removed, or any
thing else, done for the furtherance of his grand scheme,
his constant recourse was to the angel Gabriel for a new
revelation ; and then appeared some addition to the Ko-
ran, to serve bis purpose. But what perplexed him most
was, that his opposers demanded to see a miracle from
him ; " for," said they, " Moses, and Jesus, and the rest
of the prophets, according to thy own doctrine, worked
miracles to prove their mission from God ; and therefore,
if thou be a prophet, and greater than any that were sent
before thee* as thou boastest thyself to be, do thou work
the like miracles to manifest it onto us." This objection
he endeavoured to evade bv several answers : all of which
amount only to this, " that God had sent Moses and Jesus
with miracles, and yet men would not be obedient to their
word ; and therefore he had now sent him in the last place
without miracles, to force them by the power of the sword
to do his will." Hence it has become the universal doc-
trine of the Mahometans, that their religion is to be pro-
pagated by the sword, and that all true mussulmen are
bound to tight for it. It has even been said to be a cus-
tom among tjiem for their preachers, while they deliver
their sermons, to have a drawn sword placed by them, to
denote, that the doctrines they teach are to be defended
and propagated by the sword. Some miracles, at the
same time, Mahomet is said to have wrought ; as, " That
he clave the moon in two ; that trees went forth to meet
him, &c. &c." but those who relate them are only such as
are ranked among their fabulous and legendary writers :
their learned doctors renounce them ail ; and when they
are questioned, how without miracles they can prove his
mission, their common answer is, that the Koran itself is
the greatest of all miracles; for that Mahomet, who was
an illiterate person, who could neither write nor read, or
that any man else, by human wisdom alone, should be able to
compose such a book, is, they think, impossible. On this
Mahomet himself also frequently insists, challenging in
several places of the Koran, both men and devils, by their*
united skill, to compose any thing equal to it, or to any
part of it From all which they conclude, and as they
think, infallibly, that this book could come from none other
but God himself ; and that Mahomet, from whom they re-
ceived it, was his messenger to bring it unto them.
MAHOMET. 12.I
That the Koran, as to style and language, is tbe.stan-
dard of elegance in the Arabian tongue, and that Maho-
met was in truth what they affirm him to have been, a rude
and illiterate man* are points agreed on all sides. A ques-
tion therefore will arise among those who are not so sure
that this book was brought by the angel Gabrtel from hea-
ven, by whose help it was compiled, and the imposture
framed ? There is the more reason to ask this, because
this. book itself contains so many particulars of the Jewish
and Christian religions, as necessarily suppose the authors
of it to have been well skilled in both; which Mahomet,
who was bred an idolater, and lived so for the first forty
years of his life, among a people totally illiterate, for such
his tribe was by principle and profession, cannot be sup-
posed to have been : but this is a question not so easily to
be answered, because the nature of the thing required it to
have been transacted very secretly. Besides this, the
scene of this imposture being at least six hundred mites
within the country of Arabia, amidst those barbarous na-
tions, who all immediately embraced it, and would not
permit any of another religion to live among them, it could
not at that distance be so well investigated by those who
were most concerned to discover the fraud. That Maho-
met composed the Koran by the help of others, was a thing
well known at Mecca, when he first published his impos-
ture there ; and be was often reproached on that account
by his opposers, as he himself more than once complains.
In the twenty-fifth chapter of the Koran, his words are :
" They say, that the Koran is nothing but a lie of thy own
invention, and others have been assisting to thee herein.*1
A passage in the sixteenth chapter also, particularly points
at one of those who was then looked upon to have had a
principal hand in this matter: " I know they will say, that
a man hath taught him the Koran ; but he whom they pre-
sume to have taught him is a Persian by nation, and
apeaketb the Persian language. But the Koran is in the
Arabic tongue, full of instruction and eloquence/' • The
person here pointed at, was one Abdia Ben Salon, a Per-
sian Jew, whose name he afterwards changed into Ab-
dullah Ebn Salem, to make it correspond with the Arabic
dialect ; and almost aH who have written of this imposture
have mentioned him tas ihe chief architect used by Aiabo*
met in the framing of it : for he was an artfol man, tfeo-i
roughly skilled in all the learning of the Jews; aud there*
122 M A H O M E T.
j
fore Mahomet seems to have received from him whatsoever
of the rites and customs of the Jews he has ingrafted into
his religion. Besides this Jew, the impostor derived some
aid from a Christian monk : and the many particulars in
the Koran, relating to the Christian religion, plainly prove
him to have had such an helper. He was a monk of Syria,
of the sect of the Nestorians. The name which he had in
his monastery, and which he has since retained among the
western writers, is Sergius, though Bahira was that which
he afterwards assumed in Arabia, and by which he has ever
since been mentioned in the East, by all that write or speak
of him. Mahomet, as it is related, became acquainted
with this Bahira, in one of his journeys into Syria, either at
Bostra or at Jerusalem : and receiving great satisfaction
from him in many of those points in which he had desired
to be informed, contracted a particular friendship with
him i so that Bahira being not long after excommunicated
for some great crime, and expelled his monastery, fled to
Mecca to him, was entertained in his house, and became
his assistant in the framing of his imposture, and continued
with him ever after ; till Mahomet having, as it is reported,
po farther occasion for him, to secure the secret, put him
to death.
Many other particulars are recorded by some ancient
writers, both as to the composition of the Koran, and also
as to the manner of its first propagation ; as, that the im-
postor taught a bull to bring it him on his horns in a pub-
lic assembly, as if it had been this way sent to him from
God ; that he bred up pigeons to come to his ears, to
make it appear as if the Holy Ghost conversed with him ;
stories which have no foundation at all in truth, although
they have been credited by great and learned men. Gro-
tius in particular, in that part of his book " De veritate,
&c." which contains a refutation of Mahometanism, relates
the story of the pigeon ; on which our celebrated orien-
talist Pococke, who undertook an Arabic version of that
performance, asked Grotius, " Where he had picked up
this story, whether among the Arabians, or the Christians ?"
To which Grotius replied, that " he had not indeed met.
with it in any Arabian author, but depended entirely upon
the authority of the Christian writers for the truth of it."
Pococke .thought fit, therefore, to omit it in his version,
lest we should expose ourselves to the contempt of the
Arabians, by. not. being able to distinguish the religion o£
M A H O M £ T. 18*
Mahomet from the tale* and fictions which its enemies
have invented concerning it; and by pretending to con*
fate the Koran, without knowing the foundation on which
its authority stands.
In the eighth year of bis pretended mission, his party
growing formidable at Mecca, the city passed a decree, by
which they forbade any more to join themselves with him.
This, however, did not much affect him, while his uncle
Abu Taleb lived to protect him : but he dying two years
after, and the government of the city then falling iiuo the
hands of his enemies, the opposition was renewed against
him, and a stop soon put to the further progress of his de-
sighs at Mecca. Mahomet, therefore, seeing all bis hopes
crushed here, began to think of settling elsewhere; and as
his uncle Abbas lived for the most part at Tayif, a town
sixty miles distant from Mecca towards the East, and was
a man of power and interest, he took a journey thither,
tinder his protection, in order to propagate his imposture
there. But, after a month's stay, finding himself unable
to gain even one proselyte, he returned to Mecca, with a
resolution to wait for such further advantages as time and
opportunity might offer.. His wife Cadiga being now dead,
after living with him twenty-two years, he took two other
wives in her stead, Ayesha the daughter of Abubeker, and
Lewda the daughter of Zama ; adding a while after to
them a third, named Haphsa the daughter of Omar ; and
by thus making himself son-in-law to three of the princi-
pal men of his party, he strengthened his interest consi-
derably.
In the twelfth year of his pretended mission is placed
the mesra, that is, his famous night-journey from Mecca
to Jerusalem, and thence to heaven ; of which he tells us
in the seventeenth chapter of the Koran ; for the people
calling on him for miracles to prove his mission, and find-
ing himself unable to feign any, to solve the matter, he
invented this story of his journey to heaven. The stpry,
as related in the Koran, and believed by the Mahometans,
is this. At night, as he lay in his bed with his best be*
loved wife Ayesha, be heard a knocking at his door; upon
which, arising, he found there the angel Gabriel, with
seventy pair of wings expanded from his sides, whiter thaa
snow, and clearer than crystal, and the beast Alboruk
standing by him ; which, they say, is the beast on which
the prophets used to ride when they were carried from one
124 MAHOMET.
place to another, upon the execution of any divine com*
inand. Mahomet describes it to be a beast as white as
milk, and of a mixt nature, between an ass and a mule,
and of a size between both, but of such extraordinary swift-
ness as to equal even lightning itself.
As/ soon as Mahomet appeared at the door, the angel
Gabriel kindly embraced him, saluted him in the name of
God, and told him that he was sent to bring him unto God
into heaven ; where he should see strange mysteries, which
were not lawful to be seen by any other man. He prayed
him then to get upon Alborak ; but the beast having lain
idle and unemployed from the time of Christ to Mahomet,
was grown so mettlesome and skittish, that he would not
stand still for Mahomet to mount him, till at length he was
forced to bribe him to it, by promising him a place in Pa-
radise. When he was firmly seated on him, the angel
Gabriel led the way, with the bridle of the beast in his
hand, and carried the prophet from Mecca to Jerusalem
in the twinkling of an eye. On his coming thither, all the
departed prophets and saints appeared at the gate of the
temple, to salute him ; and thence, attending him into
the chief oratory, desired him to pray for them, and then,
withdrew. After this, Mahomet went out of the temple
• with the angel Gabriel, and found a ladder of light ready
fixed for them, which they immediately ascended, leaving
Alborak tied to a rock till their return.
On their arrival at the first heaven, the angel knocked
at the gate ; and informing the porter who he was, and
that he had brought Mahomet the friend of God, he was
immediately admitted. This first heaven, be tells us, was
all of pure silver ; from whence he saw the stars hanging
from it by chains of gold, each as big as mount Noho,
near Mecca,, in Arabia. On his entrance, he met a de*
crepid old man, who, it 6eems, was our first father, Adam ;
and as he advanced, he saw a multitude of angels in all
manner of shapes ; in the shape of birds, beasts, and men.
We must not forget; to observe, (hat Adam had the piety
immediately to, embrace the , prophet, giving God thauks
for so great a son ; and then recommended himself to his
prayers. .Frpjm this first heaver)) the impostor tells us* he
ascended. into the secwd, whiph was, at tft$ (jUstance.pf five,
hundred ye%rs journey above it ; aj)d,th.is be makes to be
the distance of every one of the/seven heaven,?, each above
ib^Qtfaer*:, Jiejte the gatsfr being opepedto him as before,
MAHOMET. 12*
at his entrance he met Noah, who, rejoicing much at the
sight of him, recommended himself to his prayers. Thi»
heaven wis all of pure gold, and there were twice as many
angels in it as in the former ; for he tells us that the num-
ber of angels in every heaven increased as he advanced.
From this second heaven he ascended into the third, which
was made of precious stones, where ,he met Abraham, who
also recommended himself to his prayers ; Joseph the son
of Jacob, did the same in the fourth heaven, which was
all of emerald ; Moses in the fifth, which was all of ada-
mant ; and John the Baptist in the sixth, which was all of
carbuncle : whence he ascended into the seventh, which
was all of divine light, and here he found Jesus Christ.
However, it is observed, that here he alters his style ; for
he does not say that Jesus Christ recommended himself to
his prayers, but that he recommended himself to the
prayers of Jesua Christ.
The angel Gabriel having brought him thus far, told
him that he was not permitted to attend him any further;
and therefore directed him to ascend the rest of the way to
the throne of God by himself. This he performed with
great difficulty, passing through rough and dangerous
places, till he came where he heard a voice, saying unto
hicn, ** O Mahomet, salute thy Creator ;" whence, as-
cending higher, be came into a place where he saw a vast
expansion of light, so exceedingly bright, that his eyes
could not bear it. This, it seems, was the habitation of
the Almighty, where his throne was placed ; on the right
side of which, he says, God's name and his own were writ-
ten in these Arabic words : " La ellah ellallah Mohammed
resul ollah ;" that is, " There is no God but God, and
Mahomet is his prophet," which is at this day the creed of
the Mahometans. Being approached to the divine pre-
sence, he tells us that God entered into a familiar converse
with him, revealed to him many hidden mysteries, made
- him understand the whole of his law, gave him many things
in charge concerning his instructing men in the knowledge
of it; and in conclusion, bestowed on him several privi-
leges above the rest of mankind. He then returned, and
found the angel Gabriel waiting for him in the place where
he left him. The angel led him back along the seven
heavens, through which he had brought him, and set him
again upon the beast Alborak, which stood tied at the rock
pear Jerusalem. Then he conducted him back to Mecca,
126 MAHOMET.
in tbe same manner as he brought him thence.; and aH thf*
within the space of the tenth part of one night.
On his relating this extravagant fiction to the people the
next morning after he pretended the thing to have hap-
pened, it was received by them, as it deserved, with a ge-
neral outcry ; and the imposture was never in greater
danger of being totally blasted, than by this ridiculous
fable. But, how ridiculous soever the story may appear,
Mahomet had a further design in it than barely telling such
a miraculous adventure of himself to the people. Hitherto
he had only given them the Koran, which was his. written
law ; and had pretended to be nothing more than barely
the messenger of God in publishing it, as it was delivered
to him by the angel Gabriel. But now, learning from his
friend Abdalla, that the Jews, besides the written law dic-
tated by God himself, bad also another law, called the
oral law, given with it, as they pretend, to Moses himself
while in the mount ; and understanding that this law,
which had its whole foundation in the sayings and dictates
of Moses, was in as great veneration with them as the
other ; he had a mind for the future to advance his autho-
rity to tbe same pitch, and to make all his sayings and
dictates pass for oracles among the mussulmen, as those
which were pretended to proceed from Moses did among
the Jews ; and for this end chiefly it was, that he invented
this story of his journey to heaven.
The story, however, whatever advantages he might gain
by it when the imposture became more firmly established,
was deemed at present so grossly ridiculous, that it occa-
sioned the revolt of many of his disciples,' and made his
stay at Mecca no longer practicable. But what he lost at
Mecca he gained at Medina, then called Yathreb, a city ly-
ing 270 miles north-west from Mecca ; which was inhabited,
the one part by Jews, and the other by heretical Christians.
These two parties not agreeing, feuds and factions rose at
length so high among them, that one party, exasperated
against the other, went over to Mahomet. Thus we are
told, that in the thirteenth year of his pretended mission,
there came to him from thence seventy-three men and two
women. Twelve of these he retained awhile with him at
Mecca, to instruct them in his n£w religion ; then sent
them back to Yathreb, as his twelve apostles, to propagate
it in that town. In this they laboured abundantly, and
with such success, that, in a short time they drew over, the
MAHOMET. 1527
greatest part of the inhabitants; of which Mahomet re-
ceiving an account, resolved to go thither immediately,
fading it unsafe to continue any longer at Mecca.
On the 12th day of the month, which the Arabs call the
Former Rabia, that is, on the 24th of our September, he
came to Yathreb, and was received with great acclamations
by the party which called him thither. This party is sup*'
posed to have been the Christians, and this supposition is
con6rmed by what he says of each of them in the fifth
chapter of the Koran, which is one of the first he published
after his coming to Yathreb. His words are these: " Thou
shalt find the Jews to be very great enemies to the true
believers, and the Christians to have great inclination and
amity towards them." By which we may see into what a
deplorable decay the many divisions and distractions which
then reigned in the eastern church had brought the Chris-
tian religion, when its professors could so easily desert it
for that gross imposture which an illiterate barbarian
proposed to them. On his first coming to Yathreb, he
lodged in the bouse of Chalid Abu Job, one of the chief
men of the party that called him thither, till be had built
a house for himself. This he immediately undertook, and
erected a mosque at the same time, for the exercise of his
new-invented religion ; and having thus settled himself in
this town, he continued there to the time of his death.
From this flight of Mahomet, the Hegira, which is the aera
of the Mahometans, begins its computation : Hegira, in
the Arabic language, signifying flight. It was first ap-
pointed by Omar, the third emperor of the Saracens, and
takes its beginning from the 16th of July, in the year 622*
Indeed the day that Mahomet left Mecca was on the first
of the Former Rabia ; and he came to Medina on the 12th
of the same month, that is on the 24th of our September ;
but the Hegira begins two months before, from the first
of Mobarram : for, that being the first month of the Ara-
bian year, Omar would make no alteration as to that, but
anticipated the computation fifty-nine days, that he might
commence his sera from the beginning of that year, in
which the flight of the impostor happened, from which it
took its name.
The first thing that Mahomet did after he had settled
himself at Medina, was to marry his daughter Fatima to
his cousin Ali. She was the only child then living of six
which were born to him of Cadiga his first wife ; and
128 MAHOMET.
indeed the only one which h4 had, notwithstanding the mill*
titude of his wives who survived hihn. Having now ob-
tained the end at which he had long been aiming, that is,
that of having a town &t his command, he entered upon a
scheme entirely new. Hitherto he Bad been only preach-
ing his religion for thirteen years together ; for the re-
maining ten years of his life he took the sword, and fought
for it He had long been teazed and perplexed at Mecca
with questions, and objections, and disputes about what he
had preached, by which he was often put to silence ; but
henceforth he forbad all manner of disputing, telling his
disciples that his religion was to be propagated not by dis-
puting, but by fighting. He commanded them therefore
to arm themselves, and slay with the sword all that would
not embrace it, unless they submitted to pay a yearly tri-
bute for the redemption of their lives : and according to
' this injunction, even to this day, all who live under any
Mahometan government, and are not of their religion, pay
an annual tax for a mulct of their infidelity; and are pu-
nished with death if they contradict or oppose any doc-
trine taught by Mahomet. After he had sufficiently in-
fused this doctrine into his disciples, he next proceeded
to put it in practice ; and having erected his standard, called
them all to come armed to it. His first expeditions were
against the trading caravans, in their journeys between
Mecca and Syria, which he attacked with various success ;
and if we except the establishing and adjusting a few par-
ticulars relating to his grand scheme, as occasion required^
his time, for the two first years after his flight, was wholly
spent in predatory excursions upon his neighbours, in
robbing, plundering}, and destroying all those that lived
near Medina, who would not embrace his religion.
In the third year of the Hegira, A. D.^624, he made,
war upon those tribes of the Arabs which were of the Jew-
ish religion near him ; and having taken their castles, and
reduced them under his power, he sold them all for slaves,
and divided their goods among his followers. But the.
battle of Ohud, which happened towards the end of this
year, had like to have proved fatal to him ; for his uncle
Hamza, who bore the standard, was killed, himself grie-
vously wounded, and escaped only by one of his compa-
nions coming to his assistance. This defeat gave rise to.
many objections against bim ; some asked, How a prophet
of God could be overthrown in a battle by the infidels r
MAHOMET. 119
and others murmured as much for the loss of their frienchr
and relations who were slain. To satisfy the former, he
laid the cause of the overthrow on the sins of some that
followed him ; and said, that for this reason God suffered
them to be overthrown, that so the good might be distin-
guished from the bad, and that those who were true be-
lievers might on this occasion be discerned from those who
were not. To quiet the complaints of the latter, he in*
vented his doctrine of fate and predestination ; telling them
that those who were slain in the battle, though they bad
tarried at home in their houses, must nevertheless have
died at that moment, the time of every man's life being
predetermined by God ; but as they died fighting for the
faith, they gained the advantage of the crown of martyr-
dom, and the rewards which were due to it in Paradise $
both which doctrines served his purpose so well, that he
propagated them afterwards on all occasions. They have
also been the favourite notidns of the Mahometans ever
since, and enforced especially in their wars ; where, it must
be owned, nothing can be more conducive to make them
fight valiantly, than a settled opinion, that to whatever
dangers they expose themselves, they cannot die either
sooner or later than is predestinated by God ; and that, in
case this predestined time be come, they shall, by dying
martyrs for their religion, immediately enter into Paradise
as the reward of it.
In the fourth year of the Hegira, A. D. 625, he waged
war with the Nadirites, a tribe of the Jewish Arabs in thef
neighbourhood ; and the same year fought the battle of
Beder, and had many other skirmishes with those who re-
fused to submit : in all Which he had sometimes prosperous
and sometimes dubious success. But while his army was
abroad on these expeditions, some of his principal men
engaging in play and drinking, quarrelled, and raised
such a disturbance among the rest, that they had like to
have endangered his whole scheme ; and, therefore, to
prevent any mischief of this kind for the future, he forbade
the use of wine, and all games of chance. In the fifth and
sixth years, he was engaged in various wars, and subdued
several tribes of the Arabs. After so many advantages ob-
tained, being much increased in strength, he marched his
army against Mecca, and fought a battle near it ; the con-
sequence of which was, that, neither side gaining any vie*
tory, they agreed on a truce for ten years. The condition^
Vol. XXI. K
1.10 MAHOMET.
of it were, that all within Mecca, who were for Mahomet,
might have liberty to join themselves to him ; and on the
other side, those with Mahomet, who had a mind to leave
him, might haye the liberty to return to Mecca. By this
truce, Mahomet, being very much confirmed in his power,
took on him. thenceforth the authority of a king, and was
inaugurated as such by the chief men of his army.
Having thus made a truce with the men of Mecca, and
thereby obtained free access* for any of his party to go into
that city, he ordained them to make pilgrimages thither,
which have ever since been observed, with much super-
stition, by all his followers, once every year ; and now
being thus established in the sovereignty, at which he had
long been aiming, he assumed ail the insignia belonging
to it; still retaining the sacred character of chief pontiff of
his religion, as well as the royal., with which he was in-
vested. He transmitted both to his successors, who, by
the title of Caliphs, reigned after him : so that, like the
' Jewish princes of the race of Maccabees, they were kings
and chief-priests of their people at the same time. Their
pontifical authority consisted chiefly in giving the inter-
pretation of the Mahometan law, in ordering all matters
of religion, and in praying and preaching in their public
mosques : and this at length was all the authority the ca-
liphs had left ; as they were totally stripped of the rest,
first by the governors of the provinces, who, about the
325th year of the Hegira, assumed the regal authority to
themselves, and afterwards by others, who gradually
usurped upon them ; till at length, after a succession of
ages, the Tartars came in, and, in that deluge of destruc-
tion with which they over-ran all the East, put a total end
not only to their authority, but to their very name and
being. Ever since that time, most Mahometan princes
have a particular officer appointed in their respective do-
minions, who sustains this sacred authority, formerly in-
vested in their caliphs ; who in Turkey is called the Mufti,
and in Persia the Sadre. But they, being under the power
of the princes that appoint them, are in reality the mere
creatures of state, who make the law of Mahomet speak
just such language as is .necessary to support the measures
of the government, however unjust or tyrannical.
In the seventh year of the Hegira, A. D. 628, the im-
postor led forth his army against Caibar, a city inhabited
fcy Ar^hs of the Jewish religion ; and, after routing them
MAHOMET*. 131
ift battle, he besieged their city, and took it by storm.
Having entered the town, he took up his quarters in the
house of Hareth, one of the principal inhabitants of the
place, whose daughter Zainoh, preparing a shoulder of
mutton -for his supper, poisoned it. Here those who would
ascribe miracles to Mahomet, tell us, that the shoulder of
mutton spake to him, and discovered that it was poisoned ;
but, if it did so, it was, it seems, too late to do him any
good ; for Basher, one of his companions, beginning too
greedily to eat of it, fell down dead on the place ; and al-
though Mahomet had not immediately the same fate, be-
cause, not liking the taste, he spit out again what he had
taken into his mouth, yet he took enough to have a fatal
effect ; for he never recovered, and, at the end of three
years, died of this meal. The maid being asked why she
did this, answered, that " she had a mind to make trial,
whether he Were a prophet or not : for, were he a prophet,"
said she, " he would certainly know that the meat was
poisoned, and therefore would receive no harm from it;
but, if he were not a prophet, she thought she should do
the world good service in ridding it of so wicked a ty-
rant." - '
After this, he reduced under his subjection other towns
belonging to the Jewish Arabs, and having increased his
strength by these acquisitions to an army of 10,000 men, he
resolved to make himself master of Mecca. For this pur-
pose, pretending that the people of Mecca had broken the
truce, he marched suddenly upon them, before they were
aware of his design : when, being utterly incapable of
putting themselves into any posture of defence against
him, they found themselves necessitated to surrender im-
mediately. As soon as it was heard among the neighbour*
ing Arabs, that Mahomet had made himself master of
Mecca, several other tribes made head against him, and
in the first encounter routed his army, though greatly su-
perior to theirs in number : but the impostor, having ga-
thered up his scattered forces, and rallied them again into
a body, acted more cautiously in the second conflict, and
gave his enemies a total defeat, and took from them their
baggage, with their wives and children, and all their sub-
stance. After this, his power being much increased, the
fame of it so terrified the rest of the Arabs, who had not
yet felt his arms, that they ail submitted to him. So that*
in this year,, which is the tenth of the Hegira, and the
K2
133 • MAHOMET.
63ist of our Lord, his empire and bis religion became
established together through all Arabia.
Jfe spent t£e remainder of the year in sending lieute-
nant* into all his provinces, to govern in bis name, to de-
stroy the heathen temples, and all the other retrains of the
Arabian idolatry, and establish his religion in its stead.
Towards the end of it, he took a journey in pilgrimage to
itlecca, where a great concourse of people resorted to him
from all parts of Arabfa, whom be instructed in bis law,
and then returned to Medina. This pilgrimage is called,
by his followers, the pilgrimage of valediction, because it
was the last he made : for, after his return to Medina, he
began daily ' to decline, through the force of that poisoi*
which he had taken three years before at Caibar. It had
never been removed from his constitution, and at length,
brought him so low, that he was forced, on the 28th day
of Saphar, the second month of their year, to take to hi*
bed; and? on the 12th day of the following month, he
died, after a sickness of thirteen days. During his sicknesa
he much complained of the meat which he had taken at
Caibar ; telling those who came to visit him, that he had
felt the torments of it in his body ever since : so that, not-
withstanding the intimacy he pretended with the angel
Gabriel, and the continual revelations be received from
him, he could not be preserved from perishing by the snares
of a girl.
He was buried in the place where he died, which wag
in the chamber of his best-beloved wife, at Medina. The
story that Mahomet's tomb, being of iron, is suspended in
the air, under a vault of loadstones, i? a mere fable ; and
the Mahometans laugh, when they know that the Chris-
tians relate it, as they do other stories of him, for a cer-
tain matter of fact. A king of Egypt, indeed,, formerly
attempted to do this, when he had a mind tp procure the
same advantage to a statue of bis wife. " Dinocrates the
architect," says Pliny, "had begun to roof the temple
of Arsinoe, at Alexandria, with load-stone, that her
image, made of iron, might seem to hang there in the
air." But no such attempt was ever made in regard to
Mahomet ; whose body continued in the place where he
was buried, without having been moved or disturbed*
They have, it is said, built over it a small chapel, joining
to one of the corners of the chief mosque of that city i
the first mosque which was erected to that impious super*
MAHOMET. 1S$
stition, Mahomet himself being, as hath been related
above, the founder of it.
Thus ended the life of this famous impostor, who was
sixty-three years old on the day he died, according to the
Arabian calculation, which makes only sixty-one of out
years. For twenty-three years he had taken upon him to
be a prophet ; of which he lived thirteen at Mecca, and
ten at Medina, during which time, by his great address
and management, he rose from the meanest beginnings to
such a height of power as to be able to make one of the
greatest revolutions that ever happened in the world. This
revolution immediately gave birth to an empire, which, in
eighty years, extended its dominion over more kingdoms
and countries than the Roman empire cpuld subdue in
eight hundred : and, although it continued in its flourish-*
ing condition not much above three hundred years, yet
out of its ashes have sprung up many other kingdoms and
empires, of which there are three at this day, the largest,
if not the most potent upon the face of the earth ; namely;
the empire of Turkey, the empire of Persia, and the em-
pire of the Mogul in India. Mahomet was a man of a
good stature and a comely aspect, and affected much to be
thought like Abraham. He had a piercing and sagacious
wit, and was extremely wcjl versed in all those arts which
are necessary to lead mankind. In the first part of his
life, be was wicked and licentious, much delighted in ra-
pine, plunder, and bloodshed, according to the usage of
the Arabs, who have generally followed this kind of life,
The Mahometans, however, would persuade us, that he
was a saint from the fourth year of his age : for then, they
say, the angel Gabriel separated him from his fellows, white
he was at play with them ; and, carrying him aside, cut open
his breast, took out his heart, and wrung out of it that black
drop of blood, in which they imagined was contained the fames
peccati\ so that he had none of it ever after. This is contra*
dieted, however, by two predominant passions, ambition
and lust. The coqrse which he took to gain empire abun-
dantly shews the former ; and the multitude of women with
whom he was connected, proves the latter. While Cadiga
lived, which was till his fiftieth year, it does not appear that
he had any other wife : for, she being the origin and foun-
dation of all his fortunes and grandeur, it is probable be
durst not displease her, by bringing in another wife. But
she waa no soonei' dead, th^n he multiplied them to a great
134 MAHOMET. 0
number, besides which he had several concubines. They
thai reckon the fewest, allow him to have married fifteen ;
but others reckon them to have been one and twenty, of
which five died before him, six he divorced, and ten were
alive at his death.
But of ail his wives, Ayesha, the daughter of that Abu-*
beker who succeeded him, was by far his best beloved.
He married her very young, and took care to have her
bred up in all the learning of Arabia, especially in the ele-
gance of their language, and the knowledge of their anti-
quities ; so that she became at length one of the most ac-
complished ladies of her time. She was a bitter enemy to
Ali, he being the person who discovered her incontinence
to Mahomet, and therefore employed all her interest, upon
every vacancy, to binder him from being chosen Caliph,
althouga, as son-in-law to the impostor, he had the fairest
pretence to it ; and when at last, after having been thrice
put by, he attained that dignity, she appeared in arms
against him ; and although she did hot prevail, caused
such a defection from hiip, as ended in his ruin. She lived
forty-eight years after the death of Mahomet, and was in
great reputation with her sect, being called by them the
Prophetess, and the mother of the faithful/ One of the
principal arguments which, the followers of Mahomet used,
to excuse his having so many wives, is, that he might be-
get young prophets : he left, however, neither prophet
nor prophetess long behind him of all his wives. The six
children which he had by Cadiga, his first wife, all died
before him, except Fatima, the wife of Ali, who only sur-
vived him sixty days ; and he had no child by any of the
rest.
As the impostor allowed the divinity of the Old and
New Testament, it is natural to suppose that he would at-
tempt to prove his own mission from both ; and the texts
used for this purpose by those who defend his cause, are
these following. In Deuteronomy it is said, " The Lord
came down from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them :
he shined forth from mount Pharan, and he came with ten
thousand of saints: from his right-hand went a fiery law
for them.9' By these words, according to the Mahometans,
are meant the delivery of the law to Moses, on mount Si-
nai ; of the gospel to Jesus, at Jerusalem ; and of the
Koran to Mahomet, at Mecca : for, say they, Seir are the
mountains of Jerusalem, where Jesus appeared $ .and Pha*
MAHOMET. 135
ran the mountains of Mecca, where Mahomet appeared.
But they are here mistaken in their geography ; for Pha-
ran is a city of Arabia Petreea, near the Red Sea, towards
the bottom of the gulph, not far from the confines of Egypt
and Palestine, and above 500 miles distant from Mecca.
It was formerly an episcopal see, under the patriarchs of
Jerusalem, and famous for Theodorus, once bishop of it?
who was the first that published to the world the opinion of
the Monothelites. It is at this day called Fara : and hence
the deserts, lying from this city to the borders of Pales-*
tine, are called the deserts or wilderness of Pharan, and
the mountains lying in it, the mountains of Pbaran, in holy,
scripture; near which Moses first began to repeat, and
more clearly to explain the law to the children of Israel,
before his death : and it is to that; to which the text
above mentioned refers.
The Psalmist has written, u Out of Sion, the perfecr
tion of beauty, God hathshined ;" which the Syriac version
reads thus, "Out of Sion God bath shewed a glorious
crown." From this some Arabic translation having ex-
pressed the two last words by " eclilan mahmudan," that
is, " an honourable crown," the Mahometans have under-
stood the name Mahomet; and so read the word thus,
" Out of Sion hath God shewed the crown of Mahomet."
In Isaiah we read, " And he saw a chariot, with a couple4
of horsemen, a chariot of asses and a chariot of camels.1'
But the old Latin version hath it, " Et vidit currum duo-
rum equitum, ascensorein asini, & ascensorem cameli ;"
that is, " And he saw a chariot of two horsemen, a rider
upon an ass, and a rider uppn a camel." Here, by the
rider upon an ass, they understand Jesus Christ, because
he so rode to Jerusalem ; and by the rider upon a camel
Mahomet, because he was of the Arabians, who used to
ride upon camels. Our Saviour, in St. John, tells his dis-
ciples, " If I go not away, the Comforter will not come
unto you : but if I depart, I will send him unto you." By
the Comforter, the Mahometans will have their prophet
Mahomet to be meant : and therefore, among other titles,
they gave him that of Paraclet, which is the Greek word
used in this text for the Comforter, made Arabic. They
also say, that the very name of Mahomet, both here and in
other places of the gospel, was expressly mentioned ; but*'
that the Christians have, through malice, blotted it out,
and shamefully corrupted those holy writings ; nay, they
U6 MAHOMET.
insist, that at Paris there is a copy of the Gospels without
those, corruptions, in which the coming of Mahomet is
foretold in several places, with his name expressly men-
tioned in them. Such a copy, it must be owned, would
be highly convenient, and to the purpose : for then it would
be no easy matter to refute this text in the 61st chapter of
the Koran \ " Remember, that Jesus, the son of Mary, said
to the children of Israel, i am the messenger of God : he
hath sent me to confirm the Old Testament, and to declare
unto you, that there shall come a prophet after me, whose
name shall be Mahomet."
It is not our business to confute these glosses ; and if it
was, the absurdity of them is sufficiently exposed by barely
relating them. Upon the whole, since the Mahometans
can find nothing else in all the books of the Old and New
Testament to wrest to their purpose, but the texts above-
mentioned, it appears to us, that their religion, as well as
its founder, is likely to receive but little sanction from the
Bible.
~ Mahomet was succeeded by Abubeker, agreeably to the
wishes of the deceased prophet ; who, after a reign of two
years, was followed by Omar ; and in the twelfth year of
his government he received a mortal wound from the hand
of an assassin, and made way for the succession of Oth«
4nan, the secretary of Mahomet. After the third caliph,
twenty-four years after the death of the prophet, Ali was
invested, by the popular choice, with the regal and sacer-
dotal office. Among the numerous biographers of Maho-
met, we may reckon Abulfeda, Maracci, Savary, Sale,
Prideaux, Boulainvilliers, D'Herbelot, Gagnier, Gibbon,
9nd the author of the article in the Modern Universal His-
tory. *
MAHOMET II. the eleventh sultan of the Turks, born
at Adrianople, the 24th of March, 1430, is to be remem-
bered chiefly by us, for taking Constantinople in 1453,
and thereby driving many learned Greeks into the West,
which was a great cause of the restoration of learning in
Europe, as the Greek literature was then introduced here.
He was on£ of the greatest men upon record, with regard
to the qualities necessary to a conqueror : and he conquered
two empires, twelve kingdoms, and two hundred consider-
able cities. He was very ambitious of the title of Great,
1 Prideayx has been chiefly followed in the preceding account
MAHOMET. 137
which the Turks gave him, and even the Christians haye
not disputed it with him ; for he was the first of the Otto-
man emperors, whom the Western nations dignified with
the title of- Grand Seignior, or Great Turk, which pos-
terity has preserved to his descendants. Italy had suffered
greater calamities, but she had never felt a terror equal to
that which this sultan's victories imprinted. The inhabit*
ants seemed already condemned to wear the turban ; it is
pertain that pope Sixtus IV. represented to himself Rome
as already involved in the dreadful fate of Constantinople ;
and thought of nothing but escaping into Provence, and
once more transferring the holy see to Avignon. Ac-
cordingly, the news of Mahomet's death, which happened
the 3d of May, 1481, was received at Rome with the
greatest joy that ev?r was beheld there. Sixtus caused
all the churches to be thrown open, made the trades-people
leave off their work, ordered a feast of three days, with
public prayers and processions, commanded a discharge
of the whole artillery of the castle of St. Aqgelo all that
time, and put a stop to his journey to Avignon. Some
authors have written that this sultan was an atheist, and
derided all religions, without excepting that of his pro-
phet, whom he treated as no better than a leader of ban-
ditti. This is possible enongh ; and there are many cir-
cumstances which make it credible. It is certain he en<*
gaged in war, not to promote Mahometism, bur to gratify
his own ambition : be preferred his own interest to that of
the faith he professed ; and to this it was owing that he
tolerated the Greek church, and even shewed wonderful
civility to the patriarch of Constantinople. His epitaph
deserves to be noted ; the inscription consisted only of nine
or ten Turkish words, thus translated : " I proposed to
myself the conquest of Rhodes and proud Italy."
He appears to be the first sultan who was a lover of arts
and sciences ; and even cultivated polite letters. He often
rfead the History of Augustus, and the other Ceesars ; and
be perused those of Alexander, Constantine, and Theodo-
aius, with more than ordinary pleasure, because thete had
reigned in the same country with himself. He was fond
of painting, music, and sculpture ; and he applied himself
to the study of agriculture. He was much addicted to •
astrology, and used to encourage his troops by giving out
that the motion and influence of the heavenly bodies pro-
mised him the empire of the world. Contrary to the genius
13S MAHOME t.
of his country, he delighted so much in the knowledge
of foreign languages, that he not only spoke the Arabian,
to which the Turkish laws, and the religion of their legis-
lator Mahomet are appropriated, but also the Persian, the
Greek, and the French, that is, the corrupted Italian.
Landin, a knight of Rhodes, collected several letters
which this sultan wrote in the Syriac, Greek, and Turkish
languages, and translated them into Latin. Where the
originals are is not known ; but the translation has been
published several times; as at Lyons, 1520, in 4 to; at
Basil, 1554, 12 mo, in a collection published by Opori-
nus; at Marpurgh,' 1604, in 8vo, and at Leipsic, 1690,
in 12mo. Melchior Junius, professor of eloquence at
Strasburg, published at Montbeliard, 1595, a collection
of letters, in which there are three written by Mahomet II.
to Scanderbeg. One cannot discover the least air of
Turkish ferocity in these letters : they are written in as
civil terms as the most polite prince in Christendom could
have used.1
MAIER (Michael), a celebrated German alchymist and
rosicrucian of the seventeenth century, who sacrificed his
health, his fortune, his time, and his understanding, to
those ruinous follies, wrote many works, all having re-
ference, more or less, to the principles or rather absurdi-
ties of his favourite study. The following are mentioned
as the chief of these publications. 1. " Atalanta fugiens,"
1618, 4to, the most rare and curious of his works. 2.
u Septimana philosophica," 1620, 4to. In both these
works he has given abundance of his reveries. 3. " Si-
lentium post clamores, seu tractatus Revelationum fratrum
rose® Crucis," 1617, 8vo. 4* " De fraternitate rosea&
Crucis," 1618, 8vo. 5. " Jocus severus," 1617, 4to.
6. " De rosea C nice," 1618, 4to. 7. " Apologeticus re*<
velationum fratrum rosea? Crucis,*' 1617, 8vo. 8. "Canti-
lenee intellectuales," Rome, 1624. 9. " Museum Chy-
micum," 1708, 4to. 10. " De Chrculo physico-quadrato,"
1616, 4to.s
MAIGNAN (Emanuel), a religious minim, and one of
the greatest philosophers of his age, was born at Toulouse,
of an ancient and noble family, July 17, 1601. While he
was a child, he discovered an inclination to letters and the
sciences, and nothing is said to have had so great an effect
i Guillet Hist, de Mahomet II,— Universal Hist,— -Gibbon, * Diet. Hist, .
M A I G N A N 130
in quieting his infant clamours, as putting some tittle book
into his hands. He went through his course in the college
of Jesuits, and acquitted himself with great diligence in
every part of scholarship, both with respect to literary and
religious exercises. He was determined to a religious life,
by a check given to his vanity when he was learning rhe-
toric. He had written a poem, in order to dispute the
prize of eloquence, and believed the victory was unjustly
adjudged to another. This made him resolve to ask the
minim's habit, and having acquitted himself satisfactorily
in the trials of hi3 probation-time, he was received upon
his taking the vow in 1619, when he was eighteen. He
went through his course of philosophy under a professor
who was very much attached to the doctrine of Aristotle ;
and he omitted no opportunity of disputing loudly against
all the parts of that philosopher's scheme, which be sus-
pected of heterodoxy. His preceptor considered this as a
good presage ; and in a short time discovered, to his great
astonishment, that his pupil was very well versed in ma-
thematics, without having had the help of a teacher. In
this, like Pascal, he had been his own master ; but what
he says of himself upon this point must be understood with
some limitation ; namely, that " in his leisure hours of one
year from the duties of the choir and school, he discovered
of himself as many geometrical theorems and problems, as
were to be found in the first six books of Euclid's Ele-
ments."
However freely he examined the opinions of philosophy,
instead of shewing himself incredulous in matters of di-
vinity, he implicitly submitted to all the tenets of bis1
church. But, as the arguments of the Peripatetics were
commonly applied to illustrate and confirm those tenets,
where he did not upon examination find them well-
grounded, he made no scruple to prefer the assistance of
Plato to that of Aristotle. His reputation was so great,
that it spread beyond the Alps and Pyrenees ; and the ge-
neral of the minims ordered him to Rome, in 1636, to fill
a professor's chair. His capacity in mathematical disco-
veries and physical experiments soon became known ;
especially from a dispute which arose between him and
father Kircher, about the invention of a catoptrical work*
In 1648 his book " De perspectiva horaria" was printed
at Rome, at the expence of cardinal Spada, to whom it
was dedicated, and greatly esteemed by all the curious.
140 M A I G N A N.
Erom 'Borne he returned to Toulouse, in 1650, and was so
well received by bis countrymen, that they created him
provincial tbe same year ; though he was greatly averse to
having bis studies interrupted by the cares of any office,
and he even refused an invitation from the king in 1660,
to settle in Paris, as it was his only wish to pass the re-
mainder of his days in the obscurity of the cloister, where
he bad put on the habit of the order. Before this, in 1652,
he published bis " Course of Philosophy," at Toulouse,
in 4 vols. 8vo, in which work, if he did not invent the ex-
planation of physics by the four elements, which some
have given to Empedocles, yet he restored it, as Gassen*-
dus did the doctrine of the atomists. He published a se-
cond edition of it in folio, 1673, and added two treatises
to it ; the one against tbe vortices of Des Cartes, the other
upon the speaking-trumpet invented by our countryman
sir Samuel Morland. He also formed a machine, which
shewed by its movements that Des Cartes's supposition
concerning the manner in which the universe was formed,
or might have been formed, and concerning the centri-
fugal force, was entirely without foundation.
Thus this great philosopher and divine passed a life of
tranquillity in writing books, making experiments, and
reading lectures. He was perpetually consulted by the
most eminent philosophers, and was obliged to carry on a
very extensive correspondence. Such was the activity of
his mind that he is said to have studied even in his sleep j
for his very dreams employed him in theorems, and he
was frequently awaked by the exquisite pleasure which he
felt upon the discovery of a demonstration. The excellence
of bis manners, and his unspotted virtues, rendered him
, qo less worthy of esteem than bis genius and learning. He
died at Toulouse Oct. 29, 1676, aged seventy-five. It is
said of him, that he composed with great ease, and with-
out any alterations at all. See a book entitled " De vita,
moribus, & scriptis R. patris Emanuelis Maignani Tolosa*
tis, ordinis Minimorum, philosophi atqiie mathematici prae-
stantissimi, elogium," written by F. Saguens, and printed
at Toulouse in 1697, a work in which are some curiotis
facts, not, however, unmixed with declamatory pueri-
lities. '
, i life as abofc— Niceron, yoK XXXL— -0en. Dict.-~A$Qreri.
M A I L L A. 141
MAILLA (Josbph-Anns-Marie de Moyrjac de), a
learned Jesuit, was liorn in the French province of Bogey
on the borders of Savoy, in 1§70.. From the age of twen*
ty -eight be had made himself - so completely master of
Chinese learning of all kinds, that he was considered as a
prodigy, and in 1703, was sent as a missionary into that
country, where he was highly esteemed by the emperor
Kam-Hi, who died in 1722. By that prince he was em*
ployed, with other missionaries, to construct a chart of
China, and Chinese Tartary, which was engraved in
France in 1732. He made also some separate maps of par-
ticular provinces in that vast empire, and the emperor was
so pleased with these performances, that he fixed the au-
thor at bis court. Maiila likewise translated the " Great
Annals" of China into French, and transmitted his manu-
script to France in 1737, comprising the complete history
of tbe Chinese empire. Tbe first volumes appeared id
1777, under the care of the abb£ Grosier, and tbe whole
was completed by him in 1785, making thirteen volumes
4to. Tbe style of tbe original is heavy, and contains many
long and tedious harangues, whicb the editor has sup*
pressed : it gives many lively and characteristic traits of
men and manners. Maiila died at Pekin June 28, 1748,
having lived forty -five years in China, and attained bis
seventy-ninth year. He was a man of a lively but placid
character, of an active and persevering spirit, whicb no
labours repressed. The late emperor Kien Long paid the
expences of his funeral, which was attended by a proces-
sion of seven hundred persons. 1
MAILLARD (Oliver), a famous preacher, and a cor-
delier, was a native of Paris, where he rose to the dignity
of doctor in divinity. He was entrusted with honourable
employments by Innocent VIII. and Charles V III, of France,
by Ferdinand of Arragon, &c. and is said to have served
the latter prince, even at the expence of his master. He
died at Toulouse June 13, 1502. His sermons, whioh re-
mained in manuscript, are full of irreverent familiarities,
and in tbe coarsest style of his times. His Latin sermons
were printed at Paris, in seven parts, forming three vo-
lumes inSvo; tbe publication commenced in 1711, and
was continued to 1730. In one of bis sermons for Lent,
the words hem ! hem ! are written in the margin to n>ark
i T)ict. Hist.
142 M A I L L A R D.
the places«where, according to the custom of those cfayfl*
the preacher was to stop to cough/ Niceron has giveri
some amusing extracts fsom others of them, which, amidst
' all their quatntnesses, 9how him to have been a zealous re-
prover of the vices of the times, and never to have spared
persons of rank, especially profligate churchmen. He even
took liberties with Louis XI. of France to his face, and
when one of the courtiers told him that the king had
threatened to throw him into the river, " The king is my
master," said our hardy priest, " but you may tell him,
that I shall get sooner to heaven by water, than he will
with his post-horses." Louis XI. was the first who estab-
lished posting on the roads of France, and when this bon
mot was repeated to him, he was wise enough to allow
Maillard to preach what he would and where he would.
The bon mot, by the way, appears id the " Navis Stulti-
fera," by Jodocus Badius, and was probably a current jest
among the wits of the time. 1
MAILLEBOIS (John-Baptist Demarets, marquis of),
was the son of Nicolas Desmarets, controller-general of
the finances towards the end of Louis XIV.'s reign, and
was born in 1682. He first signalized himself in the- war
on the Spanish succession, and completed his reputation
by two brilliant campaigns in Italy. He was afterwards
sent against Corsica, which he reduced, but it threw off
subjection immediately on his departure. This expedition
obtained him the staff of mareschal of France. In the war
of 1741, he gained new laurels in Germany and Italy: but
in 1746, he was defeated by the famous count Brown, in
the battle of Placentia. He died in February 1762, in
the 80th year of his age. The account of his campaigns
in Italy was published in 1775, in three volumes quarto,
accompanied with a volume of maps. The author of this
work was the marquis of Pezay, who executed it with great
judgment.9
MAILLET (Benedict de), a French theorist of some
note, was born in 1659, of a noble family in Lorraine. At
the age of thirty-three he was appointed consul-general of
Egypt, and held that situation with great credit for six-
teen years. Having strenuously supported the interests of
his sovereign, he was at length rewarded by being removed
to Leghorn, which was esteemed the chief of the French
i Niceroq, vol. XXIIJ.— Bib!. Croix du Maine— Moreri. * Diet. Hist
t
M A I L L E T. 14*3
consulships. In 1715 he was employed to visit and inspect
the other consulships of Barbary and the Levant, and ful-
filled this commission so much to the satisfaction of his
court, that he obtained leave to retire, with a considerable
pension, to Marseilles, where be died in 1738, at the age
of seventy-nine. De Maillot did not publish anything
himself, but left behind him papers and memoirs, from
which some publications were formed. The first of these
was published in 8vo, by the abb6 Mascrier, under the
feigned name of Telliamed, which is De Maillet reversed.
The subject is the origin of our globe, and the editor has
thrown the sentiments of his author into the form of dia-
logues between an Indian philosopher and a French mis-
sionary. The philosopher maintained that all the land of
this earth, and its vegetable and animal inhabitants, rose
from the bosom of the sea, on the successive contrac-
tions of the waters : that men had originally been tritons
with tails ; and that they, as well as other animals, had
lost their marine, and acquired terrestrial forms }>y their
agitations when left on dry ground. This extravagance
had its day in France. The same editor also drew from
the papers of this author, a description of Egypt, published
in 1743, in 4 to, and afterwards in two volumes 12mo. '
MAIMBOURG (Louis), a man celebrated in the re*
public of letters, was born at Nancy, in Lorrain, in 1610.
He was very* well descended, and his parents were people
of considerable rank and fortune. He was admitted into
the society of the Jesuits in 1626 ; but obliged afterwards
to quit it by the order of pope Innocent XI. in 1682, for
having asserted too boldly the authority of the Gallican
church against the court of Rome. Louis XIV. however,
made him sufficient amends for this disgrace by settling
on him a very honourable pension, with which he retired
into the abbey of St. Victor at Paris. Here he died in
1686, after having made a will by which it appears that
he was extremely dissatisfied with the Jesuits. Bayle has
given, the substance of it, as far as relates to them, and
calls it a kind of a declaration of wan It sets forth, " That
a gentleman of Nancy, in Lorrain, had been educated and
settled in France from twelve years of age, and by that
means was become a very faithful and loyal subject of that
1 Diet. Hist. — Journal du Nil, par P. Chateauneuf, Hamburgh, 1799. — Major
Kennel's Geography of Herodotus.— Diet; Hist.
144 HAIMBO U-R'6.
ting; that he was no* almost seventy-six years *1d; that
bis father and mother being very rich had founded ft col*
lege for the Jesuits at Nancy, fifty years ago ; and that for ten
years before this foundation they had supplied those fathers
with every thing they wanted. He declares, that they did
all this in consideration of bis being admitted into that
order; and yet that now he was forcibly turned out of it.
He wills, therefore, by this testament, that all the lands,
possessions, &c. which the Jesuits received of his father
and mother, do devolve, at his decease, to the Carthusian
monastery near Nancy ; affirming, that his parents would
never have conferred such large donations upon them,
but upon condition, that they would not banish their son
from the society, after they had once admitted him ; and
that, therefore, since these conditions had been violated
on the part of the Jesuits, the possessions of his family
ought to return to him."
Maimbourg had a great reputation as a preacher, and
published' two volumes of sermons. But what have made
him most known were the several histories he published.
He wrote the History of Arianism, of the Iconoclasts, of
the Croisades, of the Schism of the West, of the Schism
of the Greeks, of the Decay of the Empire, of the League,
of Lutheranism, of Calvinism, the Pontificate of St. Leo;
and he was composing the " History of the Schism of Eng-
land" when he died. These histories form 14 vols. 4to,
or 26 in 12mo. . Protestant authors have charged him with
insincerity, have convicted him of great errors and misre-
presentations, in their refutations of his " History of Lu-
theranism and Calvinism.1' The Jansenists criticized his
*' History of Arianism,'* and that of the u Iconoclasts,"
leaving all the rest untouched. The " History of Cal*
vinism," which he published in 1681, stirred up a violent
war against him ; the operations whereof he left entirely
to his enemies, without ever troubling himself in the least
about it, or acting either offensively or defensively. The
abb6 L' Avocat says that his historical works were admired at
first, on account of a kind pf romantic style which prevails
in them ; but this false taste did not continue long, and
the greatest part of them were exploded while their author
was yet living. It is asserted that P. Maimbourg never
took up his pen till he had heated his imagination by wine,
nor ever attempted to describe a battle till he had drank
two bottles; making use of this precaution, as he said
M A I M B O U R a 145
jestingly, lest the horrors of the combat should enfeeble
his sty U*. The same biographer adds, that Theodore Maim-
bourg, his cousin, turned Calvinigt, then went back to the
.catholic church, then changed afresh to " what is called
the reformed religion," and died a Socinian at London*
abeut 1693. This last left an answer to <c M. BoSsuet'fr
Exposition of the Catholic Faith ;" and other works. r
.MAIMONIDES (Moses), or Moses the son of Maimon,
a eel ebrated rabbi, called by the Jews " The eagle of the
doctors," was born of an illustrious family at Cordova in
Spain, 1 13 U He is commonly named Moses Egyptius,
because he retired early, as it is supposed, into Egypt,
where be spent his whole life in quality of physician to the
Soldan. As soon as he arrived there he opened a school,
which was presently filled with pupils from all parts, espe-
cially from Alexandria and Damascus ; who did such cre-
dit to t'heir master by the progress they made under him,
that they spread his name throughout the world. Maimo-
nides was, indeed, according to all accounts of him, a jmost
uncommon and extraordinary man, skilled in all lan-
guages, and versed in all arts and sciences. As to lan-
guages, the Hebrew and Arabic were the first he acquired,
and what he understood in the most perfect manner ; but
perceiving that the knowledge of these would distinguish
him only among his own people, the Jews, he applied him-
self also to the Chaldee, Turkish, &c. &c. of all which he
became a master in a very few years. It is probable also,
that he was not ignorant of the Greek, since in his writings
he . often quotes Aristotle, Plato, Galen, Themistius, and
others; unless we can suppose him to have quoted those
.authors from Hebrew and Arabic versions, for which, how-
ever, as far as we can find, there is no sufficient reason.
.. He was famous for arts as well as language. In all
IttfftnGhgs of philosophy, particularly mathematics, he was
extremely well skilled ; and his experience in the art of
healing was so very great, that as we have already intimated,
he was called to be physician in ordinary to the king*
,Tbet*e is a letter of his extant, to rabbi Samuel Aben
Tybbon, in which he has described the nature of this
o£ce, and related also what vast incumbrances and labours
the pfactice of physic brought upon him. Of this we shall
give a short extract, because nothing can convey a clearer
* Gen. Diet,— Morwri.T-L'AYOcat'i Diet. HUt
V<H-XXI. L
146 M A I M O N I D E S,
or a juster idea of the man, and of the esteem and venera-
tion in which he was held in Egypt. Tybbon had con-
sulted him by a letter upon some difficult points, and bad
told him in the conclusion of it, that as soon as he could
find leisure he would wait upon him in person, that they
.might canvas them more fully in the freedom of conversa-
tion. Maimonides replied, that he should be extremely
glad to see him, and that nothing could give him higher
pleasure than the thoughts of conversing with him ; but
yet. that he must frankly confess to him that he durst not
encourage him to undertake so long a voyage, or to think
of visiting him with any such views. " 1 am," says he,
"so perpetually engaged, that it will be impossible for you
to reap any advantage from me, or even to obtain a single
hour's private conversation with me in any part of the
four-and-twenty. I live in Egypt, the king in Alkaira ;
which places lie two sabbath-days journey asunder. My
common attendance upon the king is once every morning ;
but when his majesty, his concubines, or any of the royal
family, are the least indisposed, I am not suffered to stir a
foot from them; so that my whole time, you see, is
almost spent at court. In short, I go to Alkaira every
morning early, and, if all be well there, return home
about noon ; where, however, I no sooner arrive, than I
.find my house surrounded with many different sorts of
people, Jews and Gentiles, rich men and poor, magistrates
and mechanics, friends as well as enemies, who have all
been waiting impatiently for me. As I am generally half
famished upon my return from Alkaira, I prevail with this ~
multitude, as well as I can, to suffer me to regale myself .
with a bit of dinner ; and as soon as I have done, attend
this crowd of patients, with whom, what with examining
into their particular maladies, and what with prescribing
for them, I am often detained till it is night, and am al-
ways so fatigued at last, that I can scarcely speak, or
even keep myself awake. And this is my constant way
of life," &c.
But however eminent Maimonides was as a physician,
he was not Less so as a divine. The Jews have this saying
of him, " A Mose ad Mosen non surrexit sicut Moses ;,f
by which they would insinuate, that of all their nation
none, ever so nearly approached to the wisdom and learn-
ing of their great founder and lawgiver, as Moses, the son
of Maimon. He' was, says Isaac Casaubon, " a man of
M A I M O N I D E S, 147
great parts and sound learning ; of whom, I think, we
may truly say, as Pliny said of old of Diodorus Siculus,
that he was the first of his tribe who ceased to be a trifler."
He was so far from paying an undue regard to absurd
fables and traditions, as his nation had always been accus-
tomed to do, that he dissuaded others from it in the most
express terms. " Take heed,'9 says he, " and do not waste
your time in attempting to draw sense or meaning out of
that which has no meaning in it; I myself have spent a
great deal of time fn commenting upon, and explaining the
Gemara, from which I have reaped nothing but my labour
for my pains."
The works of Maimonides are very numerous. Some of
them were written in Arabic originally, but are now extant
in Hebrew translations only. The most considerable are
his Jad, which is likewise called " Mischne Terah," his
"More Nevochim," and his "Peruschim, or Commen-
taries upon the Misna." His " Commentaries upon the
Misna" he began at the age of three-and-twenty, and
finished in Egypt, when he was about thirty. They wer6
translated from the Arabic by rabbi Samuel Aben Tybbon.
His " Jad" was published about twelve years after, written
in Hebrew, in a very plain and easy style. This has always
been esteemed a great and useful work, being a complete
code, or pandect of Jewish law, digested into a clear and
regular form, and illustrated throughout with an intel-
ligible commentary of his own. " Those," says Collier,
" that desire to learn the doctrine and the canon law con-
tained in the Talmud, may read Maimonides's compendium
of it in good Hebrew, in his book entitled Jad ; wherein
they will find a great part of the fables and impertinences
in the Talmud entirely discarded." But of all his produc-
tions, the " More Nevochim" has been thought the most
important, and valued the most, not only by others, but
also by himself. This was written by him in Arabic, when
he was about fifty years old ; and afterwards translated into
Hebrew, under his own inspection, by rabbi Samuel Aben
Tybbon. The design of it was to explain the meaning of
several difficult and obscure words, phrases, metaphors,
parables, allegories, &c. in scripture ; which, when inter-
preted literally, seemed to have no meaning at all, or at
least a very absurd and irrational one. Hence the work,
as.Buxtorf says, took its title of " More Nevochim," that
is, " l>octor perplexorum ;" as being written for the use
L 2
14S MAIMONIDES.
and benefit of those who were in doubt whether they
should interpret such passages according to the letter, or
rather figuratively and metaphorically. It was asserted by
many at that time, but very rashly, that the Mosaic rites
and statutes had no foundation in reason, but were the
effects of mere will,, and ordained by God upon a principle
purely arbitrary. Against these Maimonides argues, shews
the dispensation in general to be instituted with a wisdom
worthy of its divine author, and explains the causes and
reasons of each particular branch of it. This procedure,
however, gave offence to many of the Jews ; those espe-
cially who had long been attached to the fables of the
Talmud. They could not conceive that the revelations of
God were to be explained upon the principles of reason; but
thought that every institution must cease to be divine the
moment it was discovered to have any thing in it rational.
Hence, when the " More Nevocbim" was translated into
Hebrew, and dispersed among the Jews of every country,
great outcries were raised, and great disturbances occa-
sioned about it. They reputed the author to be a heretic
of the worst, kind, one who had contaminated the religion
of the Bible, or rather the religion of the Talmud, with
the vile allay of human reason ; and would gladly have
burnt both him and his book. In the mean time, the wiser
part of both Jews and Christians have always considered
the work in a very different light, as formed upon a most
excellent and noble plan, and calculated in the best man*
ner to procure the revereuce due to the Bible, by shewing
the dispensation it sets forth to be perfectly conformable
to all our notions of the greatest wisdom, justice, and
goodness : for, as the learned Spencer, who has pursued
the same plan, and executed it happily, observes very
truly, " nothing contributes more to make men atheists,
and unbelievers of the Bible, than their considering th$
rites and ceremonies of the law as the effects only of ca-
price and arbitrary humour in the Deity : yet thus they will
always be apt to consider them while they remain iguorant
of th<e causes and reasons of their institution."
Besides these three works of Maimonides, a great many
pieces are said to have been written by him upon theology,
philosophy, logic, medicine, &c. and in various languages,
as Arabic, Chaldee, and Greek. It may easily indeed bp
conceived, that a man of his uncommon abilities might be
^ qualified to write upon almost every subject, as there was
MAIM0NIDE8. 149
hardly any thing to be found in the republic of letters,
which he had not read. He had turned over not only all
the Hebrew, but all the Arabian, Turkish, Greek, Egyp-
tian, and Taltnudic writers, as appears by the use he has
made of them in his works. He tells us in more places
than one, that he had perused with great attention, all the
ancient authors updn the rise and progress of idolatry,
with a view of explaining the reasons of those rites and or-
dinances in the law, which were instituted to abolish it :
and, in the preface to his " Commentary upon the Misna,"
he expressly says, that there was no book written in any lan-
guage, upon the subject of philosophy, which he had not
read entirely through.
This wonderful rabbi died in Egypt, in 1204, when he
was seventy years of age, and was buried with his nation
in the land of Upper Galilee. The Jews and Egyptians
bewailed his death for three whole days, and called the
year in which he died " Lamentum lamentabile," as the
•highest honour they could confer upon his name., See the
preface of John Buxtorf the son, to his Latin translation
of the " More Nevochim," whence this account of the
author is chiefly taken.1
MAINE DU. See CROIX.
*
MAINTENON . (Madam de), a very extraordinary
French lady, who, from a low condition and many misfor-
tunes, was raised at last to be the wife of Louis XIV. was
descended from the ancient family of d'Aubign£ ; her pro-
per name being Frances d'Artbigng. M. d'Aubigue, her
grandfather, was born in 1550, and died in 1630, in his
80th year. He was a man of great merit, a man also of
rank, a leading man among the Protestants in France, and
much courted to go over to the opposite party. When he
perceived that there was no safety for him any. longer in
his own country, be fled for refuge to Geneva, about 1619.
The magistrates, and the clergy there, received him with
great marks of honour and distinction ; and he passed the
remainder of his life among them in great esteem. Meze-
ray says, that " he was a man of great courage and bold* ~
m»ss, of a ready wit, and of a fine taste in polite learning,
as well as of good experience in matters of wan"
The son of this d'Aubign£ was the father of madam de
Maintenon ; her mother the daughter of Feter de Cardillac,
) Preface as above.-*Wolfii Bibl. Hebrsea.— Saxii Onomasticop.
150 MAINTENON.
lord of Lane; and of Louisa de Montalembert They
were married at Bourdeaux, Dec. 27, 1627, not without
some apprehensions, it is said, on the part of the lady,
upon her being united, we know not how, to a man of a
most infamous character, and who had actually murdered
his first wife : for such was Constance d'Aubign£. Going
to Paris soon after his marriage, he was for some very gross
offence cast into prison ; upon which madam d'Aubign£
followed to solicit his pardon ; but in vain: cardinal Riche-
lieu was indexible, and told her, that " to take such a
husband from her, was to do her a friendly office*" Ma-
dam d'Aubign6, more attached to her husband in propor-
tion as he became more miserable, obtained leave to shut
herself up in prison with him. Here she had two sons, and
becoming pregnant a third time, obtained leave from court
to have her husband removed to the prison of Niort, that
they might be nearer the assistance which they derived
from their relations.
In this prison madam de Maintenon was born, Nov. 27,
1635; from which miserable situation, however, she was
taken a few days after by madafri Villette, her aunt by her
father's side, who, out of compassion to the child, gave
her to the care of her daughter's nurse, with whom she
was bred for some time as a foster-sister. Madam Villette
also sent the prisoners several necessaries, of which they
were in extreme waht. Madam d'Aubign6 at length ob-
tained her husband's enlargement ; but it was upon con*
dition that he should turn Roman Catholic. D'Aubigne*
promised all ; but, forgetting his promises, and fearing to
be involved again in trouble, he was determined to seek
his fortune abroad. Accordingly in 1639, he embarked
for America with his wife and family ; and arriving safely
there, settled in Martinico, where he acquired considera-
ble plantations. Madam d'Aubigng returned in a little
time with her children to France, to carry on some law-
suits, and recover some debts; but madam Villette per-
suading her to desist from her pretensions, she returned to
America, where she found her husband ruined by gaming.
In 1646, he died, when madam d'Aubigne* was left, in the
utmost distress, to support herself, and manage the edu-
cation of her children, as she could. She returned to
France, leaving her debts unpaid, and her daughter as a
pledge in the hands of one of her principal creditors ; who,
however, soon sent her into France after her mother,
MAINTENON, 151
Here neglected by her mother, who was indeed little able
'to support her, she fpll into the hands of madam Villette
at Poictou, who received her with great marks of affection ;
ijmd told her, that she should be welcome, if she thought
fit, to live with her, where at least she should never be
reduced to want a subsistence. The niece accepted the
offer which her aunt made her, and studied to render her-
self necessary and agreeable to a person, upon whom she
saw she must depend for every thing. She particularly
laboured to insinuate herself into the. affections of her cou-
sin, with whom she had one common nurse : and to omit
nothing that might please them, she expressed a great de-
sire to he instructed in the religion of her ancestors. She
was impatient to have some conversation with ministers,
and to frequent their sermons, and in a short time became
firmly attached to the Protestant religion. In the mean
time madam de Neuillant, a relation by her mother's side,
and a Roman catholic, had been busy in advertising some
considerable persons of the danger she was in, as to her
salvation ;.,and bad solicited an order, which was granted,
from the court, to take her out of the hands of madam
Villette, and to have her instructed in the Roman Catholic
religion. . She accordingly took her to herself, and made
a convert of her : which however was not effected without
many threats, artifices, and hardships, which drove her at
length to a compliance with the solicitations of madam de
Neuillant.
In 1651, she was married .to the abbe" Scarron. Madam
de Neuillant, being obliged to go to Paris, took her along
with her; and there becoming known to this old famous
buffoon, who admired her for her wit, she preferred mar-
rying him to the dependent state she was in. Scarron was
of an ancient and distinguished family, but deformed, in-
firm, and in no very advantageous circumstances; as he
subsisted only on a pension, which was allowed him by the
court, in consideration of his wit and parts. She lived
with him, however, many years ; and Voltaire says that this
part of her life was undoubtedly the happiest. Her beauty,
but still more her wit, for she was never reckoned a complete
beauty, distinguished her greatly ; and her conversation
was eagerly sought by all the best company in Paris. Upon
the death of her husband, which happened in 1660, she
was reduced to the same indigent condition she was in be-
' fore her marriage ; but her friends did all they could to
152 MAINTENON.
prevail upon the court to continue to her the pension which
Scarron had enjoyed : in order to which, petitions were
frequently given in, beginning always with, "The widow
Scarron most humbly prays your majesty," &c. For a
time all these petitions signified nothing ; and the king was
so weary of them, that he has been heard to say, " Must
I always be pestered with the widow Scarron ?" At
length, madam de Montespan, his mistress, undertook to
present one to him : " How V7 cried the king, " the
widow Scarron again ! Shall 1 never hear of any thing
else ?" *' Indeed, Sire," replied madam de Montespan,
" you ought to have ceased hearing of it long ago." The
pension was granted, and madam Scarron went to thank
madam de Montespan, who was so struck with the charms
of her conversation, that she presented her to the king,
who is reported to have said : " Madam, I have made you
wait a long time; but your* friends are so numerous, that
I was desirous of your owing this to me alone." Voltaire
tells us,, he had this fact from cardinal Fleury, who took a
pleasure in often repeating it, because he said Louis XIV.
had made him the same compliment when he gave him the
bishopric of Frejus.
Some time after, madam de Montespan, wishing to
conceal the birth of the children she had by the king, cast
her eyes on madam Scarron, as the mo&t likely person to
keep the secret, and educate them properly ; and madam
Scarron undertook this charge by his majesty's order, and
became their gov ernante. She then led a hard, unplea-
sant, and retired life, with only her pension of 2000 livres,
and had the mortification of knowing that she was disagree-*
able to the king. His majesty had indeed a degree of
dislike to her : he looked upon her as a wit ; and though
he possessed much wit himself, he could not bear those
who made a display of it, He never mentioned her to
madam de Montespan, but by the name of " your bel-
esprit." When the children grew older, they were sent
for to court, which occasioned the king to converse some-*
times with. madam Scarron, in whom he found so much
sense, sweetness, and elegance of manners, that he not
only lost by degrees his dislike to her, but gave her a par*
tic qiar proof of his esteem: looking over the state of the
pensions, and seeing " two thousand francs for madam
Scarron," he erased the sum, and wrote **two thousand
prQWUs/' .The young duke pf Maine also contributed not
MAIKTENON. 153
a little to remove his majesty's prejudices. The king fre-
quently played with him, and being much pleased with the
sense that appeared even in his eyes, and with the manner
in which he answered his questions, said to him one day,
" You are very wise ;" " I may well be so," replied the
child, " for I have a governess who is wisdom itself/*
" Go," said his majesty, " go, tell her you bring her a
hundred thousand franks for your sugar plumbs." Madam
Searron attended this young prince sometime after to the
waters of Barege, from whence she wrote to the king him-
self, to inform him of all that passed. He was much
pleased with her letters, and said, " I had no idea that a
bel-esprit could write so well." This circumstance pro-
bably gave rise to the report that Louis XIV. was first cap-
tivated by a letter she wrote in madam de Montespan's
name; but it is a mere story. Madam de Montespau
wrote at least as good letters as madam Scarrort, and even
as madam de Sevign6.
In 1679, the king bought her the lands of Main tenon,
worth 250,000 iivres, which was the only estate she ever
had, though afterwards in a height of favour that afforded
her the means of purchasing immense property. Here she
had a magnificent castle, in a most beautiful country, not
more than fourteen leagues from Paris, and ten from Ver-
sailles. The king, seeing her extremely pleased with the
acquisition of her estate, called her publicly madam de
Mam tenon ; which change of name was of greater use to
her than she heroelf could have foreseen. She could not
well be raised to the rank in which she was- afterwards seen,
with the name of Scarron, which must always have been
accompanied with a mean and burlesque ideai * A woman,
whose very name was a jest, must have detracted from the
respect and veneration which was paid to the great and
pompous Louis ; cior could ail the reserve and dignity of
the widow efface dhe impression made by the remembrance
of her buffoonish husband. It was necessery, therefore,
that madam de Maintenon should obliterate madam
Scarron.
In the mean tint e, her elevation was to ber only a retreat.
Shut up in her apartment, which was on the same floor
with the king's, st) e confined herself to the society of two
or three ladies, as retired as herself; and even these she
saw but seldom. The king came to her apartment every
(Jay after dinner, \ >efore and after supper, and continued
154 maintenon;
there till midnight. Here he did business with his mini-
sters, while madam de Maintenon employed herself in
reading or needle-work, never shewing any eagerness to
talk of state affairs, often seeming wholly ignorant of them,
and carefully avoiding whatever had the least appearance
of cabal and intrigue. She studied more to please him
who governed, than to govern ; and preserved her credit,
by employing it with the utmost circumspection. She did
not make use of her power,; to give the greatest dignities
and employments among her own relations. Her brother
count d'Aubign6, a lieutenant-general of long standing,
was not even made a marshal of France ; a blue ribbon,
and some appropriations in the farms of the revenue, were
all his fortune : which made him once say to the marshal
de Vivone, the brother of madam de Montespan, that
" he had received the staff of marshal in ready money." It
was rather high fortune for the daughter of this count, to
marry the duke de Noailles, than an advantage to the
duke. Two more nieces of madam de Maintenon, the
one married to the marquis de Caylus, the other to the
marquis de Villette, had scarcely any thing. A moderate
pension, which Louis XIV. gave to madam de Caylus,
was almost all her fortune ; and madam de Villette had
nothing but expectations. This lady, who was afterwards
married to the celebrated lord Bolingbroke, often re-
proached her aunt for doing so little for her family ; and
once told her in some anger, that " she took a pleasure in
ber moderation, and in seeing her family the victim of it."
This Voltaire relates as a fact, which he bad from M. de
Villette herself. It is certain, that M. de Maintenon sub-
mitted every thing- to her fears of doing what might be
contrary to the king's sentiments. She did not even dare
to support her relation the cardinal de Noailles, against
father le Tellier. She bad a great friendship for the poet
Racine, yet did not venture to protect him against a slight
resentment of the king's. One day, moved with the elo-
quence with which he had described to ber the people's
miseries in 1698, she engaged him to draw up a. memorial,
which might at once shew the evil and the remedy. The
king read it ; and, upon his expressing some displeasure at
it, she had the weakness to tell the author, and not the
courage to defend him. Racine, still weaker, says Vol-
taire, was so hurt, that it was supposed tx> have occasioned
bis death. The same natural disposition, which made, her
M A I N T E N O N. 155
incapable of conferring benefits, made her also incapable
of doing injuries. When the minister Louvois threw him-
self at the feet of Louis XIV. to hinder his marriage with
the widow Scarron, she not only forgave him, but fre-
quently pacified the king, whom the rough temper of this
minister as frequently angered.
About the end of 168,5, Louis married madam de Main-
tenon ; and certainly acquired an agreeable and submissive
companion. He was then in his forty-eighth year, she in
her fiftieth. The only public distinction which made her
sensible of her secret elevation (for nothing could be con-
ducted more secretly then, or kept a greater secret after-
wards, than this marriage) was, that at mass she sat in one
of the two little galleries, or gilt doors, which appeared
only to be designed for the king and. queen : besides this,
she had not any exterior appearance of grandeur. That
piety and devotion, with which she had inspired the king,
and which she had applied very successfully to make her-
self a wife, instead of a mistress, became by degrees a
settled disposition of mind, which age and affliction con-
firmed. She had already, with the king and the whole
court, given herself the merit of a foundress, by assent-*
bling at Noisy a great number of women of quality ; and
(he king had already destined the revenues of tne abbey of
St. Denis, for the maintenance of this rising community.
St. Cyr was built at the end of the park at Versailles, in
1686. She then gave the form to this establishment ; anfl,
together with Desmarets, bishop of Cbartres, made the
rules, and was herself superior of the convent. Thither
she often went to pass away some hours ; and, as we learn
from herself, melancholy determined her to this employ-
ment. " Why cannot I," says she in a letter to madam
de la Maisonfort, " why cannot I give you my experience ?
Why cannot I make you sensible of that uneasiness, which
wears out the great, and of the difficulties they labour
under to employ their time ? Do not you see that I am
dying with melancholy, in a height of fortune, which once
my imagination could scarcely have conceived ? I have'
been young and beautiful, have had a relish for pleasures,
and have been the universal object of love. In a more
advanced age, 1 have spent my time in intellectual amuse-
ments. I have at last risen to favour; but I protest to
you, my dear girl$ that every one of these conditions
leaves in the mind a dismal vacuity." If any thing, says
156 M A I N T E N O N.
Voltaire, could shew the vanity of ambition, it would cer-
tainly be this letter. She could have no other uneasiness
than the uniformity of her manner of living with a great
king ; and this made her say once to the count d'Aubign6,
her brother, " I can hold it no louger ; I wish I was dead.**
The court grew now every day less gaj' and more serious,
after the king began to live a retired life with madam de
Maintenon. It was the convent of St. Cyr which revived
the taste for works of geniusi Madam de Maintenon in-
treated Racine, who had renounced the theatre for Jan-
senism and the court, to compose a tragedy, and to take
the subject from the Bible. Racine composed "Esther :**
and this piece having been first represented at th<* u~
of St. Cyr, was afterwards acted several times at V
before the king, in the winter of 1689. At the c
the king, which happened Sept. 2, 1715, madam d
tenon retired wholly to St. Cyr, where she spent
nfainder of her days in acts of devotion. What .
surprising is, that Louis XIV. made no certain p
for her, but only recommended her to the duke of (
She would accept of no m.ore than an annual pei
80,000 livres; and this was punctually paid her '
death, which happened the 15th of April, 1719.
la Beaumeile published in 1755, " M. de Maintenor
ters," 9 vols. 12mb; and " Memoirs" for her 1
&c. the whole reprinted in 12 vols, small 12mo.
u Letters'* are curious and interesting, but there i
veral trifling ones among them. The " Memoirs,'
contain some remarkable anecdotes, are not alway:
depended on as to facts, and are frequently censura
indelicacy.1
MAJOR, or MAIR (John), a scholastic diviue ai
torian, was born, not at Haddington, as is usual]
but at Gleghorn, a village near North Berwick, in
From some passages in his writings, it appears that
sided for a time both at Oxford and at Cambridge
the former particularly, we learn from the dedica
one of his works to cardinal Wolsey, he resided, not
months, as Wood says, but a year. The cardinal,
he styles " your majesty," received him " after th
manner of Christian hospitality, and invited him
splendid salary to Oxford, where he had lately found
* Marerl.— Siecle de ^ouis XIV— -Pict, Hist
MAJOR. 15T
college, which Major did not accept, on account of the love
he bore to his mother university of Paris." It appears
that he went in 1493 to Paris, and studied in the college
of St. Barbe, under the famous John Boulac. Thence he
removed to the college of Montacute, where be began the
study of divinity, under the celebrated Standouk. In 1498
he was entered of the college of Navarre ; in 1505 he was
created D. D. returned to Scotland in 1519, and taught
theology for several years in the university of St: Andrew's.
At length, disgusted with the quarrels of his countrymen,
be returned to Paris, and resumed his lectures in the col-
lege of Montacute, where he had several pupils, afterwards
men of eminence. About 1530, he removed once more
land, was chosen professor of divinity at St. An-
and afterwards became provost It is usually sup-
that he died' in 1547, but it is certain that he was
1549; for in that year he subscribed (by proxy,
>unt of his great age) the national constitutions of
.rch of Scotland. He died soon after, probably in
vvhich must have been in his eighty-second year.
. says, that of all the divines who had written on the
f the Master of Sentences (Peter Lombard), Major
most learned and comprehensive. His History of
d is written with much commendable freedom ; but
barous style, and not always correct as to facts,
the instructor, but not, as some have said, the pa-
the famous George Buchanan. He also had the
ted John Knox as one of his pupils. Baker in a
e on the " Athenae," adds to the mention of this
hat " a man would hardly believe be had been
by him." Baker, however, was not sufficiently ac-
d. with Major's character to be able to solve this
Major, according to the very acute biographer of
Dr. M'Crie) had acquired a habit of thinking and
ing himself on Certain subjects, more liberal than
opted in his native country and other parts of Eu-
He had imbibed the sentiments concerning eccle-
l polity, maintained by John Gerson, Peter D'Ailly,
ers, who defended the decrees, of the council of
tee, and liberties of the Galiican church, against
ho asserted the incontrouiable authority of the so-
pontiff. He thought that a general council was
r to the pope, might judge, rebuke, restrain, and
eve. ;pose him from his dignity ; denied the temporal
158 MA J O R.
supremacy of the bishop of Rome, and his right to inau-
gurate or dethrone princes; maintained that ecclesiastical
censures and even papal excommunications had no force,
if pronounced on invalid or irrelevant grounds ; he held
that tithes were merely of human appointment, not divine
right; censured the avarice, ambition, and secular pomp
of the court of Rome and the episcopal order ; was no
warm friend of the regular clergy, and advised the reduc-
tion of monasteries and holidays. His opinions respecting
civil government were analogous to those which he held as
to ecclesiastical policy. He taught that the authority of
kings and princes was originally derived from the people ;
that the former are not superior to the latter, collectively
considered ; that if rulers become tyrannical, or employ
their power for the destruction of their subjects, they may
lawfully be controuled by them ; and proving incorrigible,
may be deposed by the community as the superior power ;
and that tyrants may be judicially proceeded against, even
to capital punishment. The affinity between these and
the political principles afterwards avowed by Knox, and
defended by the classic pen of Buchanan, is too striking to
require illustration. But although Major had ventured to
think for himself on these topics, in all other respects be
was completely subservient to the opinions of his age; and
with a mind deeply tinctured with superstition, defended
some of the absurdest tenets of popery by the most ridicu-
lous and puerile arguments.. We .cannot, therefore, greatly
blame Buchanan, who called him in ridicule, what he af-
fected t*> call himself in humility, "Joannes, solo cogno-
mine, Major." His works are, I. " Libri duo fallacia-
rum," Lugd. 1516, comprising his " Opera Logica^a."
2. " In quatuor sententiarum commentarius," Paris, 1516.
S. w Commentarius in physica Aristotelis," Paris, 1526.
4. " In primum et secundum sententiarum commentarii/*
Paris, J 5 10. 5. u Commentarius in tertium sententia-
rum," Paris, 1517. 6. " Literalis in Matthaeum expo-
sition" Paris, 1518. From these two last may be collected
Jiis sentiments on ecclesiastical polity, mentioned above.
7, " De historia gentis Scotorum, sen historia majoris
Britanniae," Paris, 1521, 4to. Of this a new edition was
printed at Edinburgh, 1740, 4to. 8. " Luculenta in 4
Evangelia expositiones," &c. Paris, 1529, folio. 9. "Pla-
cita theological* 10. " Catalogue episcoporum Lucio*
i
MAJORAGIUS. 159
nensium." He also translated Caxtoh's Chronicle into
Latin.1
MAJORAGIUS (Mark Antony), so named from a vil-
lage in the territory of Milan, where he was born in 1514,
applied himself to the study of belles lettres, and afterwards
taught them at Milan, with very great reputation. He
introduced into the schools of that place the mode of
writing declamations which had been practised by the an*
cients, and was found to be an useful method of exer-
cising the genius of young men. His success attracted
much envy, and his enemies are said to have instituted a
law-suit against him for taking the name of Marcus Anto-
nius Mdjorianus, instead of Antonius Maria, which was his
proper name. He founded his defence on the more clas-
sical sound of the name, and his plea was considered as
valid. He died in 1555, at the early age of forty-one.
Of his works are extant, 1. " Commentaries on the Rhe-
toric of Aristotle, on the Oratory of Cicero, and on Vir-
gil," all in folio. 2. Several Tracts, and among others,
" De senatu Romano/9 in 4to. " De risu Oratorio et
urbano." " De nominibus propriis veterum Romanorum*"
3. " A Collection of Latin Speeches," Leipsic, 1628, 8vo.
These works are all replete with learning.9
MAIRAN (Jqhn James D'Ortous de), a French phi-
losopher, whose works do credit to his country, was born
at Beziers, in 1678. He was early admitted into the aca-
demy of sciences, and the 'French academy; and in the
.former, in 1741, succeeded Fontenelle in the office of
perpetual secretary. This place he filled with great repu-
tation for three years, and displayed, like his predecessor,
the talent of placing the most abstruse questions in a clear
and intelligible light. He died at Paris, Feb. 20, 1771.
-His works are, L. " Dissertation sur les variations du Ba-
rom£tre," 1715, 12mo. 2. " Dissertation sur la cause de
la lumiere des Phosphgres, et des noctiluques," 1717, 1 2mo.
3. " Dissertation sur la Glace," 1719, 12mo. 4. " Lettre
a M. Pabbe Bignon, sur la nature des Vaisseaux," 1728,
;4to. 5. " Trait6 physique et historique de l*Aurore Bo-
reale,1'. 1733, 4to. 6. " Dissertation, sur les forces mo-
trices des corps," 1741, -12 mo. 7. " Lettre a Madame
du Chatelet, sur la question des forces vives," 1741, 12 mo*
1 Mackenzie's Scotch Writers.— Ath. Ox. vol. 1.— Dodd'sCh. Hist— M«Crie's
life of Knox,— Inrja'i Lift of Buchanan. » Geo. Diet.— Moqexk— Tiraboschi*
Uo M A 1 R A N.
8. " Eloges des Acad£miciens de l'aeademie des. sciences,
morts en 1741, 1743, and 1747," 12mo. In these com-
positions, without imitating Fonteneile, he is thought
nearly to equal him, in the talent of characterizing the
persons he describes, and appreciating their merits justly.
9. " Lettre au Pere Parent) in, contenanr diverses ques-
tions, sur la Chine," 12mo. This is a curious work, and
strongly displays the philosophical mind of the author.
10. Many memoirs inserted in the volumes of the academy
of sciences, and some other compositions of no great bulk.
Mairan was much admired in society as an intelligent,
agreeable, and lively companion. It is of him that ma-
dame Pompadour relates the following anecdote, which,
if we mistake not, has been attributed to Others : " His
house had by chance taken fire, which was just getting into
the second floor, where he was plodding calmly over his .
circles and triangles. He is summoned to fly without de-
lay : * Talk to my. wife,* says he, ' I meddle with none of
these matters ;' and sat down again contentedly to muse
on the moon, until he was forced out of the house." *
MAIRE (John le), an early French poet, was born at
Bavai, in Hainault, in 1473, and died, according to some
authors, in 1524, according to others, towards 1548. He
is the author of an allegorical poem entitled " Les trois
Comes de Cupidon et d'Atropos, dont le premier fut in-
vent6 par Seraphin, Poete Italien ; le 2« et le*3 de Maitre
Jean lfe Maire," Paris, 1525, 8vo. Several other poems
by him are extant, all indicating a lively imagination, wit,
and facility of writing, but with little correctness, taste,
or delicacy. Some of his productions are not even de-
cent. He wrote also, " Les Illustrations des Gaules,
et singularites de Troyes," 1512, folio. And a pane-
gyric on Margaret of. Austria, entitled " La Couronne
Marguaritique," printed at Lyons, in 1546, in which be
reports some curious traits of the wit and repartee of that
princess.8
MA I BET (John), a French poet of later times, was
born at Besan^on, in 1604, and was gentleman in waiting
to the duke of Montmorency, under whom he signalized
himself in two battles against the Hugonots. His patron
settled upon him a pension of 15,000 livres ; but, not con-
1 Diet. Hist Necrologie, toI. IV — Madame Pompadour's Lett****' \
9 Diet. Hist.— Morcrj.— Croix da Maine.
M A I R £ T» 161
tented with that, he complained heavily that the poets of
his time received praises and incense, like the deities of
antiquity, but nothing that could support life. He was
in truth a lover of good cheer, and would have been more
pleased with presents oft wine, or delicacies for. the table,
than crowns of laurel, or any unsubstantial honour. His
remonstrances were not ineffectual. He received many
presents from the duke de Longueville, and favours in
great number from cardinal Richelieu, the count of Sois-
$ons, and cardinal la Valette. He married in 1648, and
retired to Besan$on, where be principally resided from
that time, though be lost his wife in about ten years. He
bad some talent for negotiation, and conducted the busi-
ness of a suspension of arms for Francbe Comt£ with such
success, that the emperor rewarded him in 1668, by re-
establishing an ancient claim to nobility that had been in
his family. He died in 1686, at the age of eighty- four,
Mairet was never rich, yet led a life of ease and gratifica-
tion. He very early began to write. His first tragedy of
" Chryseide," was written at sixteen ; " Sylvia," at se-
venteen ; " Sylvianire," at twenty-one ; " The Duke de
Ossane," at twenty-three ; u Virginia," at twenty-four ;
and u Sophonisba," at twenty- five. He wrote in all, 1.
Tvtelve tragedies, which, though they have some fine pas-
sages, abound in faults, and are written in a feeble style
of versification. Corneille had not yet established the
style of the French drama. On the Sophonisba of Mairet,
Voltaire has formed another tragedy of the same name*
;2. A poem, entitled " Le Courtisan solitaire,49 a perform-
ance of some merit 3. Miscellaneous poems, in general
moderate enough. 4, Some criticisms against Corneille,
which were more disgraceful to the author than to the per-
son attacked. His Sophonisba, however, was preferred
to that of Corneille, but then that drama is by no means
esteemed one of the happiest efforts of the great tragic poet.1
MAISTRE (Antoine le). France has produced se-
veral great men of the name of Maistre, and among them
Giles le Maistre, celebrated as an incorruptible magistrate
in the corrupt times of Francis I. and Henry II. Anton}'
le Maistre seems to have been of a different family, being
the son of Isaac le Maistre, master of the accounts, and
Catherine Arnaold, sister of the celebrated M. Arnauid, doc -
• Nictron. vol XXV.-HDict. Hist.— Moreri.
Vol. XXI. M
162 M A I S T R E.
tor of the Sorbonne. He was born at Paris, May 2, 160$.
He appeared very early as a pleader, and with uncommon
success, but.from religious feelings gave up his pursuits,,
and retired to the society of Port-Royal, where his
piety and mortification became conspicuous. " I have been
busy," said he, " in pleading the causes of others, I am
now studying to plead my own." He died Nov. 4, 1658,
aged fifty-one. Of his works, there have been published,
1. "Pleadings;" of the elegant style of which, Perrault
speaks in the highest terms of approbation. 2. " A Trans-
lation of Cbrysostom de Sacerdotio," with an elegant pre*
face, 12mo. 3. " A life of St. Bernard, under the name
of the sieur Lancy, 4to and 8vo. 4. Translations of se-
veral writings of St. Bernard. 5. Several publications in
favour of the Society of Port-Royal. 6. " The Life of
Don Barth61emi des Martyrs," in 8vo, esteemed a very
well-written composition ; but some biographers have at-
tributed this to his brother, the subject of our next ar-
ticle.!
MAISTRE (Louis Isaac le), more known under the
name of Sacy4* (Isaac inverted), was brother of the former,
and was bom at Paris, in 1613, where he was also edu-
cated. After pursuing his studies with the greatest success
under Du Verger, the abbe* of St. Cyrao, and other emi-
nent teachers, he was admitted to the priesthood in 1648. v
His reputation gained him the office of confessor to the
society of Port Royal ; but that house being accused of
Jansenism, he was involved in the persecution; was obliged
to conceal himself in 1661 ; and in 1666 was confined in
the Bastille. In that prison he composed some important
works, particularly a translation of the whole Bible, which
was finished on the eve of All- saints, 1668; and on the
same day he obtained bis liberty, after being confined two
years and a half. When this work was presented to the
king and his4 minister, le Maistre desired no other reward
than that of being allowed frequently to visit the Bastille,
to inspect the state of the prisoners. Some writers assert
that during his confinement, he composed a history of thtf
Old and New Testament, in one volume, under the name
of Royaumont, a work known in this country by a transla-
tion In 4to, published about the beginning of the last cen-
tury, with nearly 300 plates; but others ascribe it f
* Moreri.— Diet. Hist.-rFerranlt's Hooimes IHartrrs.
is. A I S T R & 16$
Nicholas Fontaine. Le Maistre remained at Paris till 1 675,
when be retired to Port-Royal ; but was obliged in 1679
to quit it, and retired to Pompona, where be died, at the
age of. seventy-one, in 1684. His works are, 1. His
translation of the Bible, with explanations of the literal
and spiritual sense taken from the fathers ; in which part
he was assisted by du Fosse, Hur£, and le Tourne&ux.
This work was published at Paris, in 1682* and several
subsequent years, in 32 vols. 8vo\ Several other editions
have been printed, but this is on the whole esteemed the
best. 2. A translation of the Psalms, from the Hebrew
and the Vulgate together. 3. A translation of the Ho-
milies of St. Chrysostom on St. Matthew, in 3 vols. 8vo.
4. A translation of Kempis on the Imitation of Christ, un-
der the name of de Beuil, prior of S. Val, Paris, 1663,
8vo. 5. A translation of Phsedrus, under the name of St
Aubin, 12mo. 6. Three comedies of Terence, 1 2mo. 7.
The Letters of Bongprs, published under the name of
Brianviile. 8. The poem of St. Prosper, on ingratitude,
rendered in verse and prose. 9. " Les enluminures de
I'Alaianach des Jesuites," 1654, 12mo; an attack upon
the Jesuits, which was so far relished as to be reprinted in
1733. 10. " Heures de Port-Royal," called by the Jesuits
Hours of Jansenism, 12mo. 11. " Letters of Piety," in
2 vols. 8vo, published at Paris in 1690. The merits of
this author are fully displayed in the memoirs of Port-
Royal, written by Nicholas Fontaine, and published at
Cologne, in 1738, in 2 vols. 12ID0.1
MAITLAND (Sir Richard), a cultivator and preserver
of Scotch poetry, the son of William Maitland of Lething-
ton, and of Martha, daughter of George lord Seaton, was
born in 1496. Having finished his course of literature and
philosophy in the university of St. Andrews, he visited
France in order to prosecute the study of the law. In
1 554 he appears to have been one of the extraordinary
lords of session. About 1561 he was deprived of his sight,
a misfortune which, however, did not prevent his being
admitted in that year to the office of an ordinary lord of
session, by the title of lord Lethington; and in 1562, he
was appointed lord privy-seal, and a member of the privy-
council. His office as keeper of the privy seal he resigned
in 1567, in favour of his second son, the subject of our
J Morcji. — Diet. Hist — - Duptt>.
M 2
164 MA I T LA N'D.
next article. In 1583 be was excused from attendance at
a judge, unless when it suited his convenience ; but from
a sense of the importance of the duties of that office, he
resigned it in favour of sir Lewis Ballenden. Sir Richard
died March 20, 1586. His eldest son, air William Mak*
land, secretary to queen Mary, makes a considerable figure,
in the history of that princess.
Sir Richard Maitladd is celebrated as a man of learning,
talents, and virtue. His compositions breathe the genuine
spirit of piety and benevolence* The chearfulness of hi*
natural disposition, and his affiance in divine aid, seem to
have supported him with singular equanimity under the
pressure of blindness and old age. His poem " On the
Creation and Paradyce Lost" is printed in Allan RdttiiayV
" Ever-Green." A considerable number of his produc-
tions are to be found among Mr. Pinfcerton's "Ancient
Scotish Poetry," 1786, 2 vols. 8vo; two are in the Bib-
liographer, vol. III. p. 114, and many more remain un-
published. A MS. containing " The Selected Poemes of
Sir Richard Metellan" was presented by Drumoiond to the
university of Edinburgh ; but it seems merely to consist of
gleanings from the two volumes deposited in the library of
Magdalen-college, Cambridge* Two of his unpublished
tHrorks, a genealogical history of the family of Seaton, and
decisions of the court of session from 1550 to 1565, are
preserved in the Advocates' library, Edinburgh. It is sop-
posed that he did hot write his poems before he bad nearly
attained his sixtieth year. On that and other account!
they afford some gratification to curiosity, bat little to
taste. The Maitland Collection of Poems in the Pepysian
' library has served to connect his name with the history of
early Scotish poetry.1
. MAITLAN D (John), lord of Thirlstorte, and afterward*
chancellor of Scotland, one- of the Latin poets of that
country,, the second son of the preceding, was born about
1537. He was educated in Scotland, and afterwards sent
to France to study the law. On hisret(irn\ to his native
country, he practised that profession with great success.
In 1567, as already noticed, his father resigned the privy-
seal in his favour; but in 1570 he was deprived of that
office, from his attachment to queen Mary. In 1581 he
was made a senator of the college of justice. In 1 584 be
"* Irvine's Live* of the Scotish Poets. — Mackenzie's Scotch Writers, toJ> 1IL
M A I T L A N D. \6S
became tecretary of state to king James VI. and the year
following, on the death of the earl of Arrau, was created
lord chancellor of Scotland. The power and influence of
the chancellor created him many enemies among the
Scotch nobility, who made several unsuccessful attempts
to destroy him. Id J 589 he attended the king on his
voyage to Norway, where his royal bride, the princess of
Denmark, was detained by contrary jpnds. The marriage
was there completed, and they passed the winter at Co-
penhagen* During this residence in Denmark, Maitland
became intimately acquainted with Tycbo Brahe. In 1590
he was created lord Maitland of Thirlstone. Towards the
end of 1592, the chancellor incurred the queen's dis-
pleasure for refusing to relinquish his lordship of Mussel-
burgh, which she claimed as part of Dumferling. He ab-
sented himself from court for some time, but was at length
restored to favour. He died of a lingering illness Oct. 4,
1595, and was much regretted by the king. He is spoken
of by Spotiswood and Johnston as a man of great learning,
and eminent political abilities. Of his works, we have
" Johannis Metellani, Thirlstoni domini, epigram ma ta
Latina," published in the second volume of the " DelicitB
Foetarum Scotorum," Amst. 1637 ; a satire in the Scotch
language " aganist sklanderous toungis," and an " admo-
nitioun" to the regent Mar, published in Mr. Pinkerton's
collection of "Ancient Scotish Poems." l
MAITLAND (John), duke of Lauderdale, grandson of
the preceding, was a statesman of great power and autho~
rity, bat of most inconsistent character. On the breaking
out of the wars in Scotland in the reign of Charles I. he
was a zealous covenanter; and in Jan. 1644-5, one of the
commissioners at the treaty of Uxbridge, during which,
upon the death of his father the earl of Lauderdale, be,
succeeded to his titles and estate. He took an active but
not very useful part in the above treaty ; " being," says
lord Clarendon, " a young man, not accustomed to an or-
derly and decent way of speaking, and having no gracious
pronunciation, and full of passion, he made every thing
much more difficult than it was before." In April 1647,
be came with the earl of Dumfermling to London, with a
commission to join with the parliament commissioners in
\ Mackenzie's Scotch Writers, vol. Ill — Park's edition of the Royal and
Noble Authon.
\66 MAITLAND,
persuading the king to sign the covenant and proposition*
offered to him ; and in the latter end of the same year, he,
in conjunction with the earl of Loudon, chancellor of Scot-*
land, and the earl of Lanerick, conducted a private treaty
with his majesty at Hampton court, which was renewed
and signed by him on Dec. 26 at Carisbrook castle. By
this, among other very remarkable concessions, the king
engaged himself to employ the Scots equally with the
English in all foreign employments and negociations ; and
that a third part of all the offices and places about the
king, queen, and prince, should be conferred upon per-
sons of that. nation ; and that the king and prince, or one
of them, should frequently reside in Scotland. In August
the year following, the earl of Lauderdale was sent by the
committee of estates of Scotland to the prince of Wales,
with a letter, in which, next to his father's restraint, they
bewailed his highness' s long absence from that kingdom ;
and since their forces were again marched into England,
they desired his presence to countenance their endeavours
for religion and his father's. re-establishment. In 1649, he
opposed with great vehemence the propositions made by
the marquis of Montrose to king Charles II. ; and in 1651
attended his majesty in his expedition into England, but
was taken prisoner after the battle of Worcester in Sep*
tember the same year, and confined in the Tower of Lon-
don, Portland-castle, and other prisons, till the 3d of
March, 1659-60, when he was released from his imprison*
*ment in Windsor- castle.
Upon the Restoration he was made secretary of state for
Scotland, and persuaded the king to demolish the forts
and citadels built by Cromwell in Scotland; by which
means he became very popular. He was likewise very
importunate with his majesty for his supporting presbytery
in that kingdom ; though his zeal, in that respect, did not
continue long: In 1669, he was appointed lord commis-
sioner for the king in Scotland, whither he was sent with
great pomp and splendour to bring about some extraordi-
nary points, and particularly the union of the two king-
doms. . For this purpose he made a speech at the opening
of the parliament at Edinburgh on the 19th of October
that year, in which he likewise recommended the preser-
vation of the church as established by law, and expressed
a vast zeal for episcopal government. And- now the ex-
tending of the king's power and grandeur in that kingdom
* *
M A I T L A N D, 167
was greatly owing to the management of bis lordship
although he had formerly been as much for depressing the
prerogative ; and from the time of his commission the Scots v
had reason to date all the mischiefs and internal commo-
tions of that and the succeeding reign. Having under-
taken to make his majesty absolute and arbitrary, be
stretched the power of the crown to every kind of excess,
and assumed to himself a sort of lawless administration,
the exercise of which was supposed to be granted to him
in consequence of the large promises he had made. In
the prosecution of this design, being more apprehensive of
other men's officious interfering, than distrustful of his own
abilities, he took care to make himself his majesty's sole
informer, as well as his sole secretary ; and by this means,
not only the affairs of Scotland were determined in the
court of England, without any notice taken of the king's
council in Scotland, but a strict watch was kept on all
Scotchmen, who came to the English court; and to at-
tempt any acqess to his majesty, otherwise than by his
lordship's mediation, was to hazard his perpetual resent-
ment. By these arrogant measures, he gradually made
himself almost the. only important person of the whole
Scotch nation ; and iu Scotland itself assumed so much
sovereign authority, as to name the privy-counsellors, to
place and remove the lords of the session and exchequer,
to grant gifts and pensions, to levy and disband forces, to
appoint general officers, and to transact all matters belong-
ing to the, prerogative. Besides which, he was one of the
five lords, who had the management of affairs in England,
and were styled the Cabal, and in 167&, was made mar-
quis of March, duke of Lauderdale, and knight of the
garter. But these honours did not protect him from the
indignation of the House of Commons.; by whom, in No-
vember the year following, he was voted a " grievance,
and not fit to be trusted. or employed in any office or place
of trust." And though his majesty, thought proper on
the 25th of June, 1674, to create him a baron of England
by the title of Baron of Petersham in Surrey, and earl of
Guildford, yet the House of Commons the next year pre-
sented an address to the king to remove him from all his
employments, and from his majesty's presence and coun-
sels for ever ; which address was followed by another of
the same kind in May 1678, and by a third in May the
year'following.
16$
MAITLAMB.
- i
He died at Tunbridge Wells, August 34, 1 682, leaving
a character which no historian has been hardy enough to
Tindicaie. In Clarendon, Burnet, Kennet, Hurne, Smoh
let, &c. we find a near conformity of sentiment respecting
his inconsistency, his ambition, and his tyranny *. Mr. •
Laing observes, that " during a long imprisonment, his
mind had been carefully improved by study, and impressed
with a sense of religion, which was soon effaced on his
return to the world. His learning was extensive and ac-
curate ; in public affairs his experience wan considerable,
and his elocution copious, though unpolished and indis-
tinct. But his temper was dark and vindictive, incapable
of friendship, mean and abject to his superiors* haughty
and tyrannical to his inferiors; and his judgment* seldom
correct or just, was obstinate in error, and irreclaimable
by advice. His passions were furious and ungovernable,
unless when his interest of ambition interposed ; his vio-
lence was ever prepared to suggest or to execute the most
desperate counsels ; and his ready compliance preserved
his credit with the king, till his faculties were visibly im-
paired with age." — The duke died without male issue, but
his brother succeeded to the title of Earl, whose son
Richard was the author of a translation of Virgil, which is
rather literal than poetical, yet Dryden adopted many of
the lines into his own translation.1
.MAITLAND ( WilltaM), an antiquary of some note,
was born, according to the best accounts we can obtain, at
Brechin in Forfarshire in Scotland, about 1693. What
education he had is uncertain, but his original employment
was that of a hair-merchant ; in the prosecution of which
business he travelled into Sweden, and Denmark, to Ham*
burgh, and other places. M length he settled in London,
and applied himself to the study of English and Scottish
antiquities, and must have acquired some literary reputa*
tation, as in 1733 he was elected a fellow of the royal so-
ciety, and in 1735 a fellow of the society of antiquaries,
* What no historian, no relater of;
facts could do, was accomplished by
the rev. Johu Gascarth, fellow of Pem-
broke-ball in Cambridge, in a funeral
sermon for the duke. In this he clothes
him with every virtue that ever adorned
the best, -most pious, apd wisest of hu-
man beings. After reading bis grace's
history, one would suppose all this
ironical ; bnt the author, whatever bis
motives, appears to be serious. This
sermon was published at London in
1 683, 4to. It is, we believe, scarce, but
the reader will find the substance of
it in that very useful collection, " Wil -
ford's Memorials."
1 Laing'9 Hist, of Scotland,— Clarendon.—Burnet, kc— Birch's Lives.
MAI T L AND. 169
^vhtoh lit Msigned in 1740, on going to reside ia the coun-
try. His fast publication was bis History of London, pub-
lished ia folio, in 1739; a work compiled from Stow, and
afterwards, ia 1765, enlarged by Entick to 2 vols, folio,
with a great many views, plans, &c. ther plates of which
are now in Mr. Nichols's possession. In 1740, as just
mentioned, he retired into hi*, native country, and in 1753T,
published a history of Edinburgh, comprised also in one
folio volume. In 1757, appeared his work on the history
and antiquities of Scotland, in 2 vols, folio ; a performance
not in general so highly esteemed as the two former, al-
though he appears to have taken considerable pains to
acquire information, by a set of printed queries which he
sent to every clergyman in Scotland, and himself tra-
velled over it for the same pqrpose. On July the 16th of
-the same year, he died, at Montrose, according to our
account at the age of 64 ; the papers of the time say, at
an advanced age, by which possibly it may be meant that
be was still older ; but this is matter of doubt. He was
said, in the accounts of his death, to hare died worth more
than 10,000/. Mv. Maitland was rather a compiler from
printed or written authorities, than an original collector of
antiquary knowledge. Mr. Gough, a very competent judge,
pronounces him, even in this respect, " self-conceited
and credulous,91 and adds that be " knew little, and wrote
worse." The merit of his history of London was chiefly in
supplying the place of Stowe, which was become scarce,
and in modernizing the style. His " History of Edin-
burgh" is the BpLost useful of his works.1
MAITTAIRE (Michael), an eminent classical editor,
of a foreign family, was born in 1668. He was educated
at Westminster school, under Dr. Busby, who kept him
to the study of Greek and Latin some years longer than
usual. He then gained another powerful friend in Dr.
South, for whom he compiled a list of the Greek words
falsely accented in Dr. Sherlock's books. This so pleased
Dr. South, who was then a canon of Christ church, Oxford,
that he made htm a canoneer student (i.e. one introduced
by a canon, and not elected from Westminster school),
where he took the degree of M. A. March 23, 1696. From
1695 till 1699, he was second master of Westminster-
school ; which was afterwards indebted to him for " Graecae
1 Nichols's B««y«r.
170 M A I T T A 1 R E.
Linguae Dialecti, in usum Scholse Westmohasieriensis,"
1706, 8vo*, (a work recommended in the warmest terms
by Dr. Knipe to the school over which he presided, " cui
se sua omnia debere fatetur sedulus Author") and for
" The English Grammar, applied to, and exemplified in,
the English tongue," 1712, 8vo. In "Catalogue Librorum
Manuscriptorum Angliee & Hiberniae," Oxon. 1697, t. ii.
p. 27, is inserted " Librorum Manuscriptorum Ecclesiag
Westmonasteriensis Catalogus. Accurante viro erudito
Michaele Mattaerio." But before the volume was pub*
lished, the whole collection, amounting* to 230, given by
bishop Williams, except one, was destroyed, by an acci-
dental fire in 1694. In 1699 he resigned his situation at
Westminster-school ; and devoted his time solely to lite*
rary pursuits. In 1711, he published " Remarks on Mr*
Wbisi on's Account of the Convocation's proceedings! with
relation to himself : in a Letter to the right reverend Fa-
ther in God, George, Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells,"
8vo ; and also " An Essay against Arianism, and some
other Heresies ; or a Reply to Mr. William Whiston's His*
torical Preface and Appendix to bis Primitive Christianity
revived," 8vo. In 1709, he gave the first specimen of his
great skill in typographical antiquities, by publishing
" Stephanorum Historia, vitas ipsorum ac libros complec-
tens," 8vo; which was followed in J 717, by " Historia
Typographorum aliquot Parisiensium, vitas & libros com*
plectens," 8vo. In 1719, " Annales T-ypographici ab artis
invents origine ad annum md. Hagse Com." 4to. Tp this
volume is prefixed, " Epistolaris de antiquis Quintiliani
editionibus Dissertatio, clarissimo viro D.'Jobanni Clericp."
The second volume, divided into two parts, and continued
to 1536, was published at the Hague in 1702 ; introduced
by a letter of John Toland, under the title of " Conjectura
verosimilis de prima Typographic Inventione." The third
volume, from the same press, in two parts, continued to
1557, and, by an Appendix, to 1564, in 1725, In 1733
was published at Amsterdam what is usually considered as
tlie fourth volume, under the title of " Annales Typogra-
phic! ab artis invents origine, ad annum 1564, oper&Mich.
Maittaire, A. M. Editio nova, auctior & emendatior, tomi
*
. * Of this work Reitz published an edition at the Hague, 1738, 8vo, and
a much mor* improved edition by Sturtz appeared at f^eipsic, in 1807.
M A I T T A I R E. 171
jprioii pars posterior* " In 1741 the work was closed at
London, by " Annatium Typographicoruni Tomus Quintus
Jk ultinuis ; indicem in tomos quatupr prseeumes complec-
ten3 ;" divided (like the two preceding volumes) into two
parts.
- In the intermediate years, Mr. Maittaire was diligently
employed on various works of value. In 1 7 1 3 he published
by subscription, u Opera & Fragmenta Veterum Poeta-
?om/' 1713, two handsome volumes, in folio, dedicated to
prince Eugene ; the title of some copies is dated 1721. In
1714, he was the editor of the " Greek Testament,'* in 2
Vote. The Latin writers, which he published separately,
most of them with good indexes, came out. in the follow*
itogor&r: In 1713, u Christus Patiens;" an heroic poem
by Rene Rapin, first printed in 1674; " Paterculus ;"
" Justin ;" " Lucretius ;" « Phasdrus ;"■ " Sallust ;" " Te-
lence." In 1715, " Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius ;"
«< Cornelius Nepos ;" " Florus ;" " Horace ;" " Ovid," 3
vols.; "Virgil." In 1716, "Caesar's Commentaries;'*
" Martial;" "Juvenal and Persius ;" " Quintus Curtius."
In 1719, "Lucan." In 1720, " Bonefonii Carolina."
Here he appears to have stopped ; all the other classics
which are ascribed to him having been disclaimed, by a
jHemorandum which Mr. Nichols has preserved under Mait-
taire's own hand, in the latter part of his lifef. In 1721
he published " Batrachomyopachia Graece ad veterum
exemplarium fidem recusa : glossa Greca, variantibus lee-
tionibus, versionibus Latinis, commentariis & indicibus
illustrata," 8vo. At the end of this volume he added pro-
posals for printing by subscription, " Musaeus," in Greek
and Latin, for half a guinea ; and " Rapin's Latin works,"
for a guinea, both in 4to : " Musa?us," to be comprised in
* The aukwardness of this title has imperfection of those editions, without
induced many collectors to dispose of being charged with the odium of claim-
thehr first volume, as thinking it super- ing what has been pat out by editors
seded by the second edition; but this much abler than himself; he therefore
is by no means the case; the volume would acquaint the. public, that he
of 1719 being no less necessary to com- had no hand in publishing the follow,
plete tbe set' than that of 1733, which ing books, which in some newspapers
is a revision of all the former volumes, have been advertised under his uame ;
The whole work, when properly bound, viz. " Sophoclis Tragcadia?;" ** Ho-
consists, ad libitum, either of five vo- meri Ilias ;" " Mu?arum Atigticana-
lumes, or of nine, rum Analects;;" 4* Livii His tori a;"
f " As the editor of several classics, *' Plinii Epi?tol«B et Panejryricus 5
some years ago printed in 12mo, at " Conciones & Orationes ex Historicis
Mess. Tonson and Watt's press, thinks Latin is." M. M."
it sufficient to be answerable for the
17* M A I T T A I R ¥.
twelve sheets, " lUpin" in fifty. Bat neither of these
were ever committed to the press, from want probably of
sufficient encouragement. In 1122, " Miscellanea Grce»
corum aliquot Scriptoruqi Carmine, cum vprsione L?tina
& Notis," 4to. In 1724, he compiled, at the request of
Dr. John Freind (at whose expence it was printed) an in-
dex to the works of Aret&us," to accompany the splendid
folio edition of that author in 1723. In 172$ he published
an exoellent edition of " Auacreon," in 4to, of which no
more than 100 copies were printed, and the few errata in
each copy corrected by his own hand, A second edition
of the like number was printed in 1741, with six copies on
fine writing paper. In 1726 he published, " Petri Petiti
Medici Parisiensis in tres priores Aretei Cstppadocitiibro*
Commentarii, nunc primqm editi," 4to. This learned
Commentary was found among the papers of Graeviui.
From 1728 to 1732 he was employed in publishing,
u Marmorum Arundellianorum, Seldenianorum, aliorumque
Academies Oxoniensi donatorum, una cum Commentariis
& Indice, editio secunda," folio ; to which an " Appendix19
was printed in 1733. " Epistola D. Mich. Maittaire ad
D. P. Des Maizeaux, in qua Indicia in Annates Typogra-
phies methodus explicatur," &c, is printed in " The Pre-
sent State of the Republic of Letters," in August 1733,
p. 142. The life of Robert Stephens, in Latin, revised
and corrected by the author, with a new and complete list
of his works, is prefixed to the improved edition of R.
Stephens's Thesaurus, 4 vols, in folio, in 1734. In 1736
appeared, "Antiquae Inscriptiones dqse," folio; being a
commentary on two large copper tables discovered near
Heraclea, in the bay of Tarentum. In 1738 were printed
at the Hague, " Graecre Linguae Dialecti in Scbolae Regis
Westmonasteriensis usum recogniti opera Mich. Maittaire.
Prafationem & Appendiceal ex Apollonii Discoli fragmento
inedito addidit J. F. Reitzius." Maittaire prefixed a dedi-
cation of this volume to the marquis of Granby, and the
lords Robert and George Manners, his brothers ; and a
new preface, dated 3 Cal. Octob. 1737. This was again
printed at London in 1742. In 1739, he addressed to the
empress of Russia a small Latin poem, under the title of
" Carmen Epinicium Augustissimse Russorum Imperatrici
sacrum." His, name not having been printed in the title-
page, it is not so generally known that he was editor of
Plutarch's "Apophthegmata," 1741, 4to. The last pub-
M A I T T A I R E. 173
ligation of Mr. Mflkuire was a volume of poems in 4to,
1742, under the title of " Senilia, give Pogtica aliquot in
arguments varii generis tentamioa." It may be worth
mentioning, that Baxter's dedication to bis " Glossariam
Antiquitatum Britannicarum," was much altered by Mait*
taire ; who died August 7, 1747, aged seventy-nine. There
is a good mezzotinto print of him by Faber, from a paint*
ing by B. Dandridge, inscribed, ',' Michael Maittaire, A. M.
Ataicorum jussu." His valuable library, which be had
been collecting fifty years, was sold by auction, by Messrs.
Ceck and Langford, at the close of the same year, and the
beginning of the following, taking up in all forty-four
nights. Mr. Cock, in his prefatory advertisement, tells
tw, " In exhibiting thus to the public the entire library of
1M*. Maittaire, I comply with the will of my deceased
friend ; and in printing the catalogue from his own copy
just as he left it (though, by so doing, it is the more vo-
luminous), I bad an opportunity not only of doing the
justice I owe to his memory, but also of gratifying the cu-
rious *." Maittaire, it fiiay be added, was patronized by
the first eart of Offfefd, both before and after that gentle*
toan's elevation to the peerage, and continued a favourite
with his son the second earl. He was also Latin tutor to
Mr. Stanhope, the fcarl of Chesterfield's favourite son, and
was esteemed by so many persons of eminence that we
Cannot wonder at his portrait being engraven jusmi amico-
t*um. He possessed many amiable qualities ; in religion
was orthodox and zealous t ; in temper modest and unas-
* Mr. Nichols has here taken so op*> whose works are promiscuously intro-
port unity of observing, that " the pre- duced in tbe course of the sale. With
sent mode of compiling catalogues of this improvement, Dr. Mead's Cttta*
celebrdted libraries for sale, so moch togue, which at' present is confused
more laconic than that which obtained and almost useless, would have been
about forty years ago, except when as valuable, in proportion to its extent,
Mr. Samuel Patersan exerts that talent as the ' Biblkrtheca Menckeniaiia,'
•f cataloguing for which he is particu- ' Bultelliana,' or any other publica-
larly distinguished, cannot possibly do tion of the same kind. The auctioneer
equal justice with the ancient mode, would derive sufficient advantage from
either in a literary or pecuniary view." such catalogues.'*
This remark is quoted in the " Critical f There is a passage in one of his
Review," with an additional observa- Letters to Dr. Charlett, dated 1718
tion ; " that, as the catalogues of large (published in " Letters written by Emi-
libraries sold by auction are generally nent Persons," 1813, in 3 vols. 8vo),
preserved by men of learning, for the which implies that he had been under
sake of ascertaining the dates or titles some restraint, on account of his priu-
of books, they might be rendered infi- ciples. " The friendly turn," he says,
nitely more useful, in saving expence, " which you gave to the leisure govern-
by subjoining an alphabetical iadex, ment has granted me, cannot entirely
containing the names of tbe authors reconcile me to the hardships the laws
174 MAITTAIR
sunning; despising the pride of learning, ' yet fond of
friendly intercourse.
With respect to his talents, he may be characterized as
a sound scholar, and a careful editor ; and, although his
genius was confined, and his taste questionable, his la-
bours have been truly useful, and entitle him to the grate-
ful remembrance of the classical student. He has the
glory, says Mr. Dibdin, of being the first who established
in. this country, on a solid basis,, the study of bibliography.1
MAIUS, or MAY (John Henry), a Lutheran divine,
was born Feb. 5, 1653, at Pfortzheim, in the marquisate
of Baden-Dourlach. He was profoundly skilled in Hebrew
literature, and taught the oriental languages in several
universities, with great reputation. His last employments
of this kind were at Giessen, where he was pastor, and
where he died Sept. 3, 1719. He was well acquainted
with antiquities, sacred and profane, but his works are less
known in other parts of Europe than in Germany. The
following are some of them : 1. " Historiaanimalium Scrip-
turae sacrse," 8vo. 2. " Vita Johannis Reuchlini," 1 687,
Svo. 3. " Examen histories criticoe Ricardi Simon is," 4to>
4. " Synopsis Theologiae symbolicre," 4to. 5. " Synopsis
Moralis," 4to. 6. " Synopsis Judaica," 4to. 7. " In-
troductio ad studium Philologicum, criticum, et exegeti-
cum," 4to. 8. " Paraph rasis Epistolae ad Hebrseos," 4to.
9. " Tbeologia Evangelica," 1701, and 1719, 4 parts 4to.
10. " Animadversiones et Supplementa ad Coccei Lexicon
Hebrseum," 1703, fol. 11. " CEconomia temporum ve*
teris et Novi Test. 4to. 12. " Synopsis Theologiae Chris-
tiana," 4to. 13. " Theologia Lutheri," 4to. 14. " Theo-
logia Prophetica," 4to. 1 5. " Harmonia Evangelica," 4to.
16. " Historia Refoirmationis Lutheri," 4to. 17. M Disser-
tationes philologies et exegeticse," Francfort, 171 1, 2 vols.
4to, &c. He also published a very good edition of the He-
brew Bible, 4to. His son, of the same'name, was eminent
for his knowledge of Greek and the oriental languages.1
have put me to. I thank God, I want tongue or pen." To render this intel-
no courage to go through, but courage ligibie, the reader must be told that
does not exclude feeling. One thing I Mr. Maittaire, on the accession of
can boast of, that the cruelty never George 1. turned non-juror, and was
yet soured my looks, nor extorted any probably included in the disabilities to
low i e vengeful expressions from my which Abat sect was exposed.
1 Nichols's Bowyer — Dibdin's Classics and B blicmania.
9 Nicer on, vol. XXIX. — Diet. Hist.— *axii Onomast.
MALA6RIDA. 175
- MALAGRIDA (Gabriel), an Italian Jesuit, sent by his
superiors as a missionary to Portugal, was a man of an ar-
dent zeal, wkh that faoility of elocution which enthusiasm
generally confers. He soon became the fashionable con-*
fessor, and people of all ranks put themselves under his
direction. He was regarded as a saint, and consulted as
an oracle. When the duke d'Aveiro formed his conspiracy
against the king of Portugal, be is said by the enemies of
the Jesuits to have consulted with three of that order, one
of whom was Malagrida. The king, when he thought
proper to. banish the Jesuits from his kingdom, suffered
Malagrida, Alexander, and Mathos, to remain there ; and
these are the very three who are supposed to have assisted
the conspiracy* by telling the conspirators that it was not
even a venial sin to kill a monarch who persecuted the
saints, L e. the Jesuits. Malagrida was some time after
sent to the inquisition, for teaching heretical doctrines ;
an accusation which is said to have been not altogether
without foundation. He appears, however, to have been
an enthusiast of so extravagant a kind, that no singulari-
ties id his writings can be thought extraordinary. He con*
ceived himself to possess the power of working miracles ;
and declared to the inquisitors, that God himself bad ap-
pointed him his ambassador, appstle, and prophet. This,
and many other very wild declarations, would not, perhaps,
hare occasioned his condemnation, had he not unfortu-
nately pretended to have had the death of the king re-
vealed to him. The marquis of Tancors, general of the
province of. Estremadura, happening to die, the castle of
Lisbon, and all the fortresses of the Tagus* discharged
their cannon in honour of him. Malagrida, hearing this
unusual sound in the night, concluded that the king was
dead, and desired that the inquisitors would grant him an
audience. When he came before them, he said, in order to
establish the credit of his predictions, that the death of the
king bad been revealed to him ; and that he also had a vision,
which informed him what punishment that monarch was to
undergo in the other world for having persecuted the Jesuits.
This declaration hastened his condemnation. He was burnt
alive on Sept. 21, 1761, at the age of 75, not as a conspi-
rator, but as a false prophet. His true character, perhaps,
was that of a lunatic. The works in which his heretical ex-
travagancies are to be found, are entitled " Tractatus de
vita et imperio Antichrist! -," and (written in the Portuguese
176 MALAGRIDA.
language) " The Life of St. Anne, composed with the at*
sistance of the blessed Virgin Mary and her most holy Son." '
MALAPERT (Chaeles), a poet and nsatheraaticiao,
- but less known in the latter character, was bof n at Mont
in Hainault, in 1681, and entered into Ithe otder of the
Jesuits. He taught philosophy at Pont-a*Motsson, whence
he went to Poland, where he was appointed professor of
mathematics, and afterwards filled the sane office at
Doway. His reputation induced Philip IV. to give him
an invitation to Madrid, as professor of mathematics iii his
newly-founded college, which he accepted, but died on
has way to Vittoria, Nov. 5, 1630* His Latin patois were
printed at Antwerp in 1634, and have been praised for pu-
rity of style, and imagery. Of his mathematical wink*
one is entitled " Oratio de Laudibus » Matbematick," in
which he treats jof the phenomena of the newly •discovered
Dutch telescope. The others are, " Institutions of Prac*
tical Arithmetic ;'* the " Elements of Geometry ;" " A Pa-
raphrase on the Dialectics of Aristotle ;" and u Commen-
taries oti the first six Books of Euclid."8
MALDONAT (John), a very learned Spanish Jesuit,
was born at Fuente del Maestro, a small village in the pro*
vince of Estra'madura, in 1534. He studied under Domi-
nious Asoto, a Dominican, and also under Francis Tolety a
jesuit, who was afterwards a cardinal, and there was no better
scholar in the university of Salamanca in his time* than
Maldonat. He there taught philosophy, divinity, and
the Greek language. He entered into the society of
the Jesuits, but did not put on the habit 6f his order tiH
1562, when he was at Rome. In 1563, he was sent by
his superiors to Paris, to teach philosophy in the college
which the Jesuits had just established in that city ;. where,
as the historians of his society tell us, he was so crowded
with hearers, that he was frequently obliged to read bis
lectures in the court or the street, the hail not being suf-
ficient to contain them. He was sent, with nine- other
Jesuits, to Poictiers, in 1 570, where he read lectures in
Latin, and preached in French. Afterwards he returned
to Paris, where he was not only accused of heresy, but
likewise of procuring a fraudulent will from the president
de St. Andr£, by which the president was made te leave his
1 Diet Hist de L'Avocat.— The Proceedings and Sentence of the Inquisition,
Ice. against Gabriel Malagrida, 1761, 8vo»— -Gent, Mag. for that v*ar.
* MorerJ.— Diet. Hilt.
MA LDONAT. Hi
estate to the Jertrlt?. But the parliament declared him
innocent of the forgery, and Gond?, bishop of Paris, entirely
acquitted him of the charge of hetesy. He afterwards
thought ptoper to retire to Bourges, * where the Jesuits had
a college, and continued there about a year And a half.
Then he went to Rome, by the order4 of pope Gregory
XlII. to superintend the publication of the " Septuagint :,#
and after finishing his " Commentary upon the Gospels,"
in 1582, he died there, in the beginning of 1583.
He composed several wotks, which shew great parts and
learning ; but published nothing in his life-lime. The fifrt
of his performances which came abroad after his death,
was his " Comment upon the Four Gospels ;" of which
father Simon says : u Among all the commentators which
tye hdve mentioned hitherto, there are few who have so.
happily explained the literal sense of the Gospels as John
ftaldon&t the Spanish Jesuit. After his death, whfch hap-
pened at Rome before he had reached his fiftieth year,
Claudius Aquaviva, to whom he presented his " Com-
ntetit" while he vtfes dying, gave orders to the Jesuits of
Pont a Mottfcson to cause it to hie printed frorti a copy
which Was sent them. The Jesuits, in the preface to that
work, declare that they had inserted something of their
own, according to their manner ; and that they had been
obliged to Correct the manuscript copy, which was defec-
tive in some places, because they had no access to the
original, which was at Rome. Besides, as the atfthor had
neglected to mark, upon the margin* of his copy, the
books and places from whence he had taken a great part of
his quotations, they supplied that defect. It even ap-
peared, that Maldonat had not read at first hand all that
great number of writers which he quotes ; but that lie had
made use of the labours of former writers. Thus he is not
quite so exact, as if he had put the last hand to his Com-
ment. Notwithstanding these imperfections, and softte
others, which are easily corrected, it appears plainly, fbat
this Jesuit had bestowed abundance of pains upon thaferf-*
c'elleftt work. He does not allow one difficulty to pass
without examining it to the bottom. When, a grear num-
ber of literal interpretations present themselves upoh the
sAme passage, he usually fixes upon the* Best, without
playing too great a deference to the ancient commentators,
or even to the majority, regarding nothing but truth alone,
ttript of all authorities but her own.n Cardinal Perron
Vol. XXL N
178 MALDONAT.
said, that he "was a very great man, and a true divine;,
that be had an excellent elocution as a speaker, understood
the learned languages well, was deeply versed in scholas-
tic divinity and theology, and that he had thoroughly
read the fathers." His character has been as high among
the Protestants, for an interpreter of Scripture, as it was
among the Papists. Matthew Pole, in the preface to the
fourth volume of his " Synopsis Criticorum,*' calls him a
writer of great parts and learning. " He was/' says Dr.
Jackson, " the most judicious expositor among the Jesuits.
-His skill in expounding the Scriptures, save only where
doting love unto their church had made him blind, none
of theirs, few of our church, have surpassed." His "Com-
mentaries upon Jeremiah, Baruch, Ezekiel, and Daniel,".
were printed at Lyons in 1609, and at Cologne ip 1611.
To these were added, his " Exposition of the cixth Psalm,'*
and " A letter concerning a celebrated dispute which he
had with above twenty Protestant ministers at Sedan." His
treatise "Defide," was printed at Maienne in 1600; and
that upon "Angels and Demons" at Paris, in 1605. In
1677, they published at Paris some pieces which bad never
appeared before ; namely, his treatise. "Of Grace," that
upon " Original Sin," upon " Providence," upon €t Jus-
tice," upon "Justification," and that upon "The Merit
of Werks ;" besides " Prefaces, Harangues, an<j Letters*"
one volume, folio.
We will conclude our account of this celebrated Jesuit, %
with mentioning an high eulogium of him, given by the im-.
partial and excellent Thuanus; who, after observing, that
he "joined a singular piety and purity of manners, and an
exquisite judgment, to an exact knowledge of philosophy
and divinity," adds, " that it was owing to him alone, that
the parliament of Paris, when they had the Jesuits under
their consideration, did not pronounce any sentence to
their disadvantage, though they were become suspected
by the wisest heads, and greatly hated by' the university."
Nothing can set the importance of Maldonat in a stronger
light, or better shew the high opinion that was had of his
merit1
MALEBRANCHE (Nicolas), a French philosopher*;
was born at Paris, Aug. 6, 1638, and was first placed under
a domestic tutor, who taught hin» Greek and Latin. He
Vfic& Dick— Jficerw, fpU2^J.-^©reri.~i)Bpin«^-S«aii0ii9ma*^
MALEBRANCHE. 179
afterwards went through a course of philosophy at the col-
lege of la Marche, and that of divinity in the Sorbonne;
and was admitted into the congregation of the Oratory at
Paris, in 1660. After he had spent some time there, he
consulted father le Cointe, in what manner he should pur*
sue his studies ; who advised him to apply himself to eccle-
siastical history. Upon this be began to read Eusebius,
Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret ; but soon grew weary
of this study, and next applied himself to father Simon,
who recommended Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, rabbinical
learning, and critical inquiries into the sense of the Scrip-
tures. But this kind of study was not at all more suitable
to his genius, than the former. At last, in 1664, he met
with Des Cartes' s " Treatise upon Man," which he read
over with great satisfaction, and devoted himself imme-
diately to the study of his philosophy ; of which, in a few
years, he became as perfect a master as Des Cartes him-
self. In 1699, he was admitted an honorary member of
the royal academy of sciences. He died Oct. 13, 1715,
being then seventy-seven years of age. From the time
that he began to read Des Cartes, he studied only to en-
lighten his mind, and not to furhish his memory ; so that
he knew a great deal, though he read but little. He
avoided every thing that was mere erudition ; an insect
pleased him much more than air the Greek and Roman
history. He despised likewise that kind of learning, which
consists only in knowing the opinions of different philoso-
phers ; since it was his opinion that a person may easily
know the history of other men's thoughts, withqut ever
thinking at all himself. Such was his aversion to poetry,
that he could never read ten verses together without dis-
gust He meditated with his windows shut, in order to
keep out the light, which he found to be a disturbance to
him. His conversation turned upon the same subjects as
his books, but was mixed with so much modesty and de-
ference to the judgment of others, that it was much
courted. Few foreigners, who were men of learning, neg-
lected to visit him when they came to Paris : and it is said,
that an English officer, who was taken prisoner during the
war between William III. and the king of France, was
content with his lot, when he was brought to Paris, be-,
cause it gave him an opportunity to see Louis XIV. and
father Malebranche.
He wrote several works. The first and principal, as
■ n i
180 MALEBRANCHE.
iifdeed' it gave rise to almost all that followed, was his
V De la Recherche de la Verittf,". or his " Search after
Truth," printed at Paris in 1674, and afterwards aug-
mented in several successive editions. His design in this
boo^ is to point out the errors into which we are daily led
hy our senses, imagination, and passions ; and to prescribe
4 method for discovering the truth, which he does, by
starting the notion of seeing all things in God. Hence he
is led to think and speak meanly of human knowledge,
either as it lies in written books, or in the book of nature,
compared with that light which displays itself from the
ideal world ; and by attending to which, with pure and de-
fecated minds, he supposes knowledge to be most easily
had. These sentiments, recommended by various beau-
ties of style, made many admire his genius who could not
understand, or agree to his principles. Locke, in bia.
" Examination of Malebranche's opinion of seeing all things,
in God," styles him an <f acute and ingenious author ;"
and tells us, that there are "a great many very fine
thoughts, judicious reasonings, and uncommon reflections
in his Recherche :" but in that piece, endeavours to re-
fute the chief principles of his system. Brucker is of opi-
nion that the doctrine of his- " Search after Troth,"' though
in many respects original, is raised upon Cartesian prin-
ciples, and is, in some particulars, Platonic. The author
represents, in streng colours, the causes of error, arising
from the disorders of the imagination and passions, the
abuse .of liberty, and* an implicit confidence in the senses.
He. explains the action of. the animal spirits, the nature of
memory ; the connection of the brain with other parts of
the body, and their influence upon the understanding and
will. On the subject of intellect, he maintains, that
thought alone is essential to mind, aud deduces the im-
perfect state of science from the imperfection of the hu-
man understanding, as well as from the inconstancy of the
will ia inquiring after truth. Rejecting the ancient doc-
trine of species sent forth from material objects, and deny-
ing the power of the mind to produce ideas, he ascribes
their production immediately to God ; and asserts, that
the human mind immediately perceives God, and sees all
things in him. As he derives 'the imperfection of the
human mind from its dependence upon the body, so he
places its perfection in union with God, by means of the
knowledge of truth and the love of virtOe.
MALEBRANCHE. 181
Singular and paradoxical, Brucker adds, as the notion
of " seeing all things in God/' and some other dogihas of
this writer, miist have appeared, the work was written with
such elegance and splendour of diction, and its tenfets were
supported by such ingenious reasonings, that it obtained
general applause, and procured the author a distinguished
.name among philosophers, and a numerous train of fol-
lowers. Its popularity might, perhaps, be in part owing to
the appeal which the author makes to the authority of St
.Augustine, from whom he professes to have borrowed his
hypothesis concerning the origin of ideas. The immediate
intercourse which this doctrine supposes, between the hu-
man and the divine mind, has led some to remark a strong
resemblance between the notions of Malebranche, and
those of the sect called Quakers.
Dr. Reid, on the other hand, does not allow, that either
Plato or the latter Platonists, or St. Augustine, or the
Mystics, thought, that wte perceive the cfbjects of sense in
the divine ideas. This theory of our pereeiving the objects
of sense in the ideas of the Deity, he considers as the in*
vention of father Malebranche himself. Although St. Au-
J'ustine speaks in a very high strain of God's being thfe
igbt of our minds, of our being illuminated immediately by
.the eternal light, and uses other similar expressions ; yet
he seems to apply those expressions onty-to our ilhmtirta-
tion in moral and divine things, and not to thfe pgrcfeptioh
of objects by the senses. Mr. Bayle imagines that somfe
traces of this opinion of Malebranche 'are to be fourid in
Amelius the Platonist, and even in Democritus ; but his
authorities seem, as Dr. Reid conceive*, to be strained.
Malebranche, with a very penetrating genius, ehtered intb
a more minute examination of the powers of the human
jnind than. any one before hita; aftd h6 availed himself of
the previous discoveries made by Des Cartes, without sef-
yile attachment. He lays it down as a principle admitted
by all philosophers, and in itself tinquestionable, that wfe
do not perceive external objects immediately, but by means
of images or ideas of them present to the mind. " The
things which the soul perceives," says Malebranche, •' are
df two kinds. They are either in the tfool, of without the
adul: those that are in the soul are its owft thoughts, thatt
is to say, all its different modifications. The soul has ho
need of ideas for perceiving thestf things. Biit with regard
to things withom the soul, we cannot perceive them but
182 MALEBRANCHE.
by means of ideas." He then proceeds to enumerate all
the possible ways by which the ideas of sensible objects
may be presented to the mind : either, 1st, they come from
the bodies, which we perceive ; or, 2dly, the soul has the
power of producing them in itself; or, 3dly, they are pro-
duced by the Deity in our. creation, or occasionally as
there is use for them ; or, 4thly, the soul has in itself vir-
tually and eminently, as the schools speak, all the perfec-
tions which it perceives in bodies: or, 5thly, the soul is
united with a Being possessed of all perfection, who has
in himself the ideas of all created things. The last mode
is that which he adopts, and which he endeavours to con-
firm by various arguments. The Deity, being always pre-
sent to our minds in a more intimate manner than any
other being, may, upon occasion of the impressions made
on our bodies, discover to us, as far as he thinks proper,
and according to fixed laws, his own ideas of the object ;
and thus we see all things in God, or in the divine ideas.
However visionary this system may appear on a super-
ficial view, yet when we consider, says Dr. Reid, that .he
agreed with the whole tribe of philosophers in conceiving
ideas to be the immediate objects of perception, and, that
he found insuperable difficulties, and even absurdities, in
every other hypothesis concerning them, it- will not seem
so wonderful that a man of very great genius should fall
into this ; and probably it pleased so devout a man the
more, that it sets in the most striking light our dependence
upon God, and his continual presence with us. He dis-
tinguished more accurately than any philosopher bad done
before, the objects which we perceive from the sensations in
our own minds, which, by the laws of nature, always accom-
- pany the perception of the object : and in this respect, as
well as in many others, he had great merit. For this, as
Dr. Reid apprehends, is a key that opens the way to a
right understanding, both of our external senses, and of
other powers of the mind.
The next piece which Malebranche published, was bis
" Conversations Cbretiennes, dan* lesquelles sont justified
la veritl de la religion & de la morale de J. C." Paris,
1.676. He Was moved^ it is said, to write this piece, at
the desire of the duke de Chevreuse, to shew the consis-
tency and agreement between his philosophy and religion.
His " Traite* de la nature & de la grace," 1680, was occa-
sioned by a conference he had with M. Arnaud, about those
MALEBRANCHE. 183
peculiar notions of grace into which Malebranche's system
had led that divine. This was followed by other pieces,
which were all the result of the' philosophical and theolo-
gical dispute our author had with M. Arnaud. In 1688,
he published his"*' Entretien sur la metaphysique & la re-
ligion :" in which work he collected what he hod written
against M. Arnaod, hut disengaged it from that air of dis-
pute which is not agreeable to every reader. In 1697, he
published his " TraitS de Papaour de Dieu." When the
doctrine of the new mystics began to be much talked of in
France, father Lamy, a Benedictine, ii\ bis book " De la
connoissance de soim6me," cited some passages out of
this author's " Recherche de la verity," as favourable to that
party ; upon this, Malebranche thought' proper to defend
himself in this book, by shewing in what sense it may be
said, without clashing with the authority of the church or
reason, that the love of God is disinterested. In 1708, he
published his " Entretiens d'un philosophe Chretien, &
d'un philosophe Chinois sur Pexistence & la nature de
Dieu :" or, " Dialogues between a Christian philosopher
and a Chinese philosopher, upon the' existence and nature
of God." The bishop of Rozalie having remarked some
conformity between the opinions of the Chinese, and the
notions laid down in the " Recherche de la Verit6," men-
tioned k to the author, who on that account thought him-
self obliged to write this tract. Malebranche wrote many
other pieces besides what we have mentioned, all tending
some way or other to conBrm his main system established
in the u Recherche," and to clear it from the objections
which were brought against it, or from the consequences
which were deduced from it : and, if he has not attained
what he aimed at in these several productions, he has cer-
tainly shewn great ingenuity and abilities.1
MALELAS, orMALALAS (John), of Antioch, a so-
phistf who was a teacher of rhetoric, and a member pf the
church of Antioch, is supposed to have lived about the
year 900, though some authors have been inclined to place
him earlier. He is a writer of little value, and abounds in
words of a barbarous Greek. He must not be confounded
with John of Antioch, another historian of the same place,
who was a monk. We have a chronicle written by Malehts,
" l Geo. Diet— Niceroo, vol. IL— Brucker.— Reid's Essays,—- Keel's Cyclo-
juedia. '
it* M A L E L A S.
which expends from the creation to the reign of Justinian*
but is imperfect. His history was published by Edward
Chilmead at Oxford, in 1691, in 8vo» from a manuscript
in the Bodleian library ; and republished among the By«-
zantine historians, as a kind pf appendix, at Venice, 19
1733. The Oxford edition contains an interpretation and
notep by Cbiliqead, with three indexes, one of events, a
second of authors, a third of barbarous words. Prefixed is
a discourse concerning thfe author, by Humphrey Hody;
and an epistle is subjoined from Benttey to jkfill, with an
index of author? who are there amended.1
MALEbHERBES (Chkistian-Wiluam j>b Lahqjwi-
KON), born a*. Paris, Dec. 16, 1721, was son of the tita*-
cellor of France, William de Lamoignpn, a descendant of
mi illustrious family. He received his early education, at
the Jesuits' college, and having studied law and political
economy, he was appointed a counsellor in {he parlia-
ment of Paris, and in December 1750 be succeeded bid
father as president of the "court of aids/' the duties of
which w^re to regulate the public taxes. The soperkv
tendance of the press bad been conferred upon Mftlesherbea
J>y bis' father, at the same time that he received the presi-
dentship of the court of aids; ai>d tt^is function be exer*
cise4 with unusual lenity, promoting rather tb^u, cheeking
those waitings to which the subsequent iqiseciet of hip
ponntry have been attributed. His biographer clashes it
MWfig bis great merits that " to his care. an4. befiewlent
$xertion.s France is indebted for the Encyclopedia, the
york? of Rousseau, and many other productions, which
he sheltered from proscription ;". and both Vpl$aire and
P'Alembeft acknowledged the obligation, and seem, in
.their letters to hint that his partiality was entirely on their
side In this view of the subject, Ma|qsherbea must he
considered as in some degree instrumental in preparing
the way for tha£ revolution which bus been the pregnant
§ource of so many calamities. " • »
In 1771, when the government had dissolved the whole
legal constitution, and banished the parliaments, Males*
herbes was banished to his country-seat by a; " Lettrq de
cqpbet," and the duke de Richelieu, at tbe head of a#
. armed force, abolished the court of aids. During his, re-
tirement, Malesherbes's time was occupied with bis family
1 Morerb— Gen. Diet— Saxii Ooonuurt.
\
».■ 1
MALESHERBES. 185
and his books, and the cultivation of big grounds. His
expenditure in public objects was large: he drained
marshes, cut canals, constructed roads, built bridges,
planted walks, and carried his attention to the comfort of
the lower, classes so far as to raise sheds on the sides of the
river for the shelter of the women at their domestic labours.
He was thus benevolently and usefully employed when
the accession of Lewis XVI* recalled him to a public sta-
tion, and in 1774 Malesherbes received an order to resume
the presidentship of the court of aids, on which occasion
he pronounced a very affecting and patriotic harangue,
£pd afterwards addressed the king in an eloquent speech of
thanks. His majesty was so well pleased with him, and
with the freedom of bis sentiments, that be appointed him
painister of state in June 1775, an office which gave Males*
herbes an opportunity of extending his sphere of useful-
ness. One of his first concerto was to visit the prisons,
apd restore to liberty the innocent victims of former tyran-
ny, and his praises were carried throughout France by per-
sons of all descriptions returning to the bosoms of their
fsunilies from the gloom of dungeons. Although he failed
in his attempt to abolish the arbitrary power of issuing
lettres de cachet, he procured the appointment of a com*-
tRJjssion* composed of upright and enlightened magistrates^
to which every application for such letters should be sub*-
mitted, and whose unanimous decision should be requisite
for their validity. Malesherbes was also a great encoura*
ger of commerce and agriculture, in which he bad the car-
dial co-operation of the illustrious Turgot, at that period
the comptroller of the revenue^ but, owing to the rejection
of some important measures which his zeal for the public
good led him to propose, Malesherbes resigned in the
monjth of May 1776. To obtain an accurate view of the
manners and policy of other countries and foreign states*
he set out on his travels* and visited Switzerland ind HoL»
lap<}, and in the course of his journey he noted, down every
. pcc^rrence worthy of observation, and that might, here*
after* possibly be useful to himself, and promote the me»
Jiioration of his country. On his return, at the end of a
few years, he found his native country so much advanced
in what he thought philosophical principles, that be was
encouraged to present to the king two elaborate me*
moirs, one on the condition of the protestants, the other
ja %ot*r of the principles, of civil liberty, and tolera-
/
186 M A L ESHERBES,
tion in general. Difficulties, however, were now accu-
mutating in the management of the government, and
the king, in 1786, called Malesherbes to his councils, but
without appointing him to any particular post in the ad-
ministration. He soon found it impossible td act with the
men already possessed of the powers of government, and
expressed bis opinion in two energetic memoirs " On
the Calamities of France, and the means of repairing
them ;" but it does not appear that these ever reached
his majesty, nor could Malesherbes obtain a private inter-
view ; he therefore took his final leave of the court, and
retreated to his country residence, determined to consult
the best means of serving his country by agricultural pur-
suits. In 1790 he published " An Essay on the means of
accelerating the progress of Rural Economy in France,'* in
which he proposed an establishment to facilitate the na-
tional improvement in this important point. In this tran-
quil state he was passing the evening of his days when the
horrors of the* revolution brought him again to Paris.
During the whole of its progress, he had his eyes con-
stantly fixed on his unhappy sovereign; and, subduing his
natural fondness for retirement, went regularly to court
every Sunday, to give him proofs of his respect and attach*
ment. He imposed it as a duty on himself to give the
ministers regular information of the designs of the regicide
. faction ; and when it was determined to bring the king to
trial, he voluntarily offered to be the defender of his master,
in his memorable letter of Dec. 11, 1792, that etefnal
monument of his loyalty and affection. Three counsel
had already been appointed, but one having from pruden-
tial motives, declined the office, the king, »ho wept at
this proof of attachment from his old servant, immediately
■ominated Malesherbes in his stead. Their interview was
extremely affecting, and his majesty, during the short in-
terval before his death, shewed every mark of affection
for, and confidence in, his generous advocate. Males-
herbes was the person who announced to him his cruel
doom, and was one of the last who took leave of him pre-
viously to his execution. After that catastrophe he again
withdrew to his retreat, and with a deeply- wounded heart,
refused to hear any thing of what was acting among the
blood-thirsty Parisians. As he was one morning working
in his garden, be observed four savage-looking wretches
directing their course to his house, and hastening home,
MALESHERBES. 187
be found tbem to be officers from the revolutionary tribu-
nal come to arrest his daughter and her husband, who had
formerly been president erf the parliament pf Paris. The
separation of these persons from his family was deeply af-
flicting to his heart, and it is probable that his own arrest
shortly after was a relief to his feelings. He had long been
esteemed as father of the village in which he lived, and
the rustic inhabitants crowded round to take leave of their
ancient benefactor with tears and benedictions. Four of
the municipality accompanied him to Paris, that he might
not be escorted by soldiers like a criminal. He was shut
up in prison with bis unfortunate. family ; and in a few days
the guillotine separated his son-in-law Lepelletier from his
wife ; and the accusation of Malesherbes with his daughter
and grand-daughter, " for a conspiracy against the liberties
of the people," was followed, as a matter of course, by a.
sentence of death. The real erime, as it was basely deno-
minated, of this excellent man and worthy patriot, and
which the convention never pardoned, was his defence of
the king, an act in which he gloried to the latest hour of
his existence. He probably thought it an honour to die
by the same ruffian hands that had spilt the blood of his
.master. The condemnation of the females almost over-
came the manly fortitude which he displayed in every per-
sonal suffering; bis courage, however, returned at the
prison, and tbey prepared for the death which was the last
and only important event that they had to encounter. His
daughter had exhibited the noble spirit with which she was
inspired, for upon taking leave of mademoiselle Sombreuii,
who had saved her father's life on the second of Septem-
ber, she said to her, u You have had the happiness to pre-
serve your father, I shall have the consolation of dying
with mine" On the fatal day Malesherbes left the prison
with a serene countenance, and happening to stumble
against a stone, he said with much pleasantry, " a Roman
would have thought this an unlucky omen, and walked back
again.99 Thus perished the venerable Malesherbes in April
1794, when he had attained to the age of seventy-two years
four months and fifteen days. His character may be in
part deduced from the. preceding narrative, but is more
fully displayed in his life translated by Mr. Man gin. The
subsequent government has since made some reparation for
-the injustice done him, by ordering bis bust to be placed
18* MALEZIEU. .
among those of the great na£n who haVe reflected honour
upon their country. * ■ .,
MALEZIEU (Nicolas de), a French author, a man df
extensive and almost universal learning, was born at Parts
in 1650. By. Bossuet, and the duke of Montausier, who
knew his merit, he was appointed preceptor to the duke of
Maine ; and the public in general approved the choice. In
1696 Malezieu was chosen to instruct the duke of Bur-
gundy in mathematics. In 1699 he became a member of
the academy of sciences, and in two years after of the
French academy. The duke of Maine rewarded his cans
of him by appointing bim the chief of his council, and
chancellor of Dombes. Under the regency of the duke of
Orleaus he was involved in the disgrace which fell upon
the duke his pupil, and was imprisoned for two years*
He had an excellent constitution, which, aided by regu-
larity, conducted him nearly to the close of life without
any indisposition. He died of an apoplexy on March
4,1727, at the age of seventy-seven. Notwithstanding
the vast extent of bis learning, and many occupations
which required great attention, he bad an easy and un-
embarrassed air ; his conversation was lively and agreeabW,
and his ntanners polite and attentive. He published, t.
" Elements of Geometry, for the duke of Burgundy/' 17 L5*
8vo, being the substance of the instructions delivered by
him to that prince. 2. Several pieces in verse, songs, &o.
published at Trevoux about 1712. 3. There has also been
attributed to him a farce in one act, entitled, " Policb*-
nelle demandant une place a l'Academie." He had, among
other talents, that of translating the Greek authors into
French, particularly the tragic writers, in a style of har-
mony and energy of verse, wbieh approached as nearly,
perhaps, as any thing in his language could do* to the
excellence of the originals. *
MALHERBE (Francis de), a celebrated French poet,
has always been considered by his countrymen as the father
of their poetry; since, upon his appearance, all their
former poets fell into disgrace. Bayle looks upon btifras
one of the first and greatest masters, who formed the taste
and judgment of that nation in matters relating to polite
literature. Balzac says, that the French poetry before
l Life translated by Mr. Mangin.— Gleig^s Supplement to the Encyctoo. Bfk.
-*Reetb Cyclopedia; » Mdreri.— Diet. Hist.
. *■
MALHERBE. 189
Malherbe was perfectly gothic; but Boilean, a better
judge, ha» pronounced that be was the first in France who
taught tbe muse harmonious numbers, a just cadence,
purity of language, regularity of composition, and order ;
in short, who laid down all those rules for writing which
future poets were to follow, if they hoped to succeed.
The poetical works of Malherbe, though divided into six
books, yet make but a small volume. They consist of
paraphrases upon the Psalms, odes, sonnets, and epigrams :
and they were published in several forms, to 1666, when
a very complete edition of them came out at Paris, with
tbe notes and observation? of Menage. Malherbe was
certainly the first who gave his countrymen any idea of a
legitimate ode, though his own have hardly any thing but
harmony to recommend them. He also translated some
works of Seneca, and some books of Li vy ; and if be was
not successful in translation, yet he had the happiness to
be very well satisfied with his labour. His principal busi-
ness was to criticize upon the French language ; in which
be was so well skilled, that some of his friends desired him
one day to make a grammar for the tongue. Malherbe
•replied, u that there was no occasion for him to take that
pains, for they might read bis translation of the thirty-
third* book of Livy, and he would have them write after
* that manner.'*
' Malherbe was born at Caen, about 1555, of an ancient
a«d illustrious family, who had formerly borne arms in
England, under Robert duke of Normandy. He lived to
be old ; and, about 1601, be became known to Henry the
Great, firom a very advantageous mention of him to that-
prince by cardinal du Perron. The king asked the car-
dinal2 one day, ""if he had made any more verses ?" To
which the cardinal replied, that " he had totally laid aside
ail such amusements since his majesty bad done him the
honour to take him into his service ; and added, that every
body must now throw away their pens for ever, since a
gentleman of Normandy, named Malherbe, had carried
the French poetry to such a height, as none could hope to
. reach." About four years after, he was called to court, and
enrolled among the pensioners of that monarch. After
the death of Henry, queen Mary of Medicis became his
patroness, and settled upon him a -very handsome pension.
This he enjoyed to the time of his death, which happened
at Paris in 1628. It was the misfortune of this poet, that
l«o MALHERBE,
be had no great share in the affection of cardinal Richelieu*
It was discovered, that, instead of taking more than or-
dinary pains/ as he shonld have done, to celebrate the
glory of that great minister, he bad only patched together
old soraps, which he bad found among his papers. This
was not the way to please a person of so haughty a spirit ;
and therefore be received this homage from Malfaerbe very
coldly, and not without disgust " I learned from M, Ra-
can," says Menage, " that Malberbe wrote those two
stanzas above thirty years before Richelieu, to whom he
addressed them, was made a cardinal ; and that be changed:
only the four first verses of the first stanza, to accommo-
date them to his subject. I learned also from the same
Racan, that cardinal Richelieu knew that these verses had
nqt been made for him." His apparent indolence upon such
an occasion was probably owing to that extreme difficulty
with which he always wrote. Ail writers speak of the time
and labour it cost Malberbe to produce his poems*
This poet was a man of a very singular humour ; and many
anecdotes are related of his peculiarities, by Racan, his
friend and the writer of his life. A gentleman of the law,
and of some distinction, brought him one day some indif-
ferent commendatory verses on a lady ; telling him at the
same time, that some very particular considerations had in*
duced him to compose them. Malberbe having run them over
with a supercilious air, asked the gentleman bluntly, as
his manner was, " whether he had been sentenced to be
hanged, or to make those verses ?" His manner of punish-
ing his servant was likewise characteristic, and partook
not a little of the caprice of Swift. Besides twenty crowns
a year, he allowed this servant ten-pence a day board
wages, which in those times was very considerable ; when,
therefore he had done any thing amiss, Malherbe would
very gravely say : " My friend, an offence against your
master is an offence against God, and must ■ be expiated
by prayer, fasting, and giving of alms ; wherefore I shall
i\ow retrench five-pence out of your allowance, and give
them to the poor on your account." From other accounts,
it may be inferred that his impiety was at least equal to bis
wit. When the poor used to promise him that they would
pray to God for him, he answered them, that " he did not
believe they could have any great interest in heaven, since
they were left in so bad a condition upon earth ; and that
be should be better pleased if the duke de JLuyne, or some
MALHERBE. 191
other favourite, had made him the same promise.'9 He
would often say, that " the religion of gentlemen was that
of their prince.'* During his test sickness he was with
great difficulty persuaded to confess to a priest ; for which
he gave this reason, that " he never used to confess but at
Easter." And some few moments before his death, when,
he had been in a lethargy two hours, he awaked on a sud-
den to reprove his landlady, who waited on him, for using
a word that was not good French ; saying to his confessor,
who reprimanded him for it, that " he could not help it,
and that he would defend the purity of the French language
to tbe last moment of his life." '
MALINGRE (Claude), Sieur of St. Lazaje, a French
historian, more known for the number, than esteemed for
the value of his books, was a native of Sens. In spite of
every artifice to sell his histories, publishing the same un-
der different titles, filling them with flatteries to the reign-
ing princes, and other arts, it was with great difficulty
that he could force any of them into circulation. It was
not only that his style was low and flat, but that his repre-
sentation of facts was equally incorrect. Latterly his name
was sufficient to condemn a book, and he only put bis ini-
tials, and those transposed. He died in lf>55. His best
work is said to be, " Histoire des dignit6s honoraires de
France," 8vo, on which some dependence is placed, be-
cause there he cites his authorities. He wrote also, 2.
" L'histoire generate des derniers troubles ;" comprising
the times of Henry III. and Louis XIII. in 4to. 3. " His-
toire d$ Louis XIII." 4to, a miserable collection of facts
disguised by flattery, and . extending only from 1610 to
1614. 4. " Histoire de la naissance et des progres de
l'Heresie de oe siecle," 3 vols. 4to, the first of which is
by father Richeomd. 5. " A Continuation of the Roman
History, from Constantine to Ferdinand the Third," 2 vols,
folio ; a compilation which ought to contain the substance
of Gibbon's History, but offers little that is worthy of at-
tention.- 6. " The Annals and Antiquities of Paris," 2
vols, folio. . There is another work of this kind by a P. du «
BreuU which is much more esteemed ; this, however, is
consulted sometimes as a testimony of the state of Paris in
the time of the author/ ,
1 Gteo. Diet. — Niceron, vol, VI L— Afore*?.— Bullart's Academie des Sciences, '
vol. II.
» Niceroii, vol. XXJCJV^Moreri.-^Dict Hist.
192 MALLET.
MALLET (David), a poet and miscellaneous writer, it
said to bare descended from the Macgregors, a clan wbicfer
became in the early part of the last century, under the
conduct of one Robin Roy, so formidable for violence and
robbery, that the name was annulled by a legal prohibit
tion ; and when they were all to denominate themselves*
anew, the father, as is supposed, of our author called him-
self Ma! loch. This father, James Mai loch, kept a public-
house at Crieff, co. Perth, in Seotland, where David was
born, probably about 1700. Of his early years we have
but scanty and discordant memorials, some accounts placing
him at first in a menial situation in the university of Edin-
burgh; others informing us that he was educated at the
university of Aberdeen. The latter seems most probable,
as he wrote and even printed some lines on the repairfe of
that university, in which he could not have been interested*
had he not studied there for some time. That he after-
wards went to Edinburgh is not improbable, and it is al-
most certain that be had in some way distinguished himself
at that university, for when the duke of Montrose applied
to the professors for a tutor to educate his sons, they re-
commended Malloch ; a mark of their high opinion of
him ; and the office was of importance enongh to have ex-
cited the wishes of many candidates, there being no surer
step to future advancement.
After making the usual tour of Europe with the duke's
sons, be returned with them to London, and by the influ-
ence of the family, in which he resided, easily gained ad*
mission to many persons of the highest rank, to wits,
nobles, and statesmen. '< By degrees,99 says Dr. Johnson,
" having cleared his tongue from his native pronunciation,
so as to be no longer distinguished as a Scot, be seems in-
clined to disencumber himself from all adherences of his
original, and took upon him to change his name from
Scotch Malloch to English Mallet, without any imaginable
reason of preference which the eye or ear can discover:
What other proofs he gave of disrespect to bis native"
country, I know not; but it was remarked of bim that be
was the only Scot whom Scotchmen did not commend."
It seems unreasonable, however, to impute this change! of
name to disrespect for his country ; with his countrymen
many of his most intimate connections were formed, and
his friendship for Thomson is one of the most agreeable
parts of bis history ; and almost the last character he
MALLET. 193
sustained was that of an intrepid advocate for lord Bute, and
what were then called the Scotch junto who ruled the king
and kingdom. As to Scotchmen not commending him, he
had at least one adherent in Smollet, who engaged him to
write in the Critical Review, where all Mallet's works am
highly praised, particularly his " Elvira." The late com*
mentator, George Steevens, esq. bit upon the truth more
exactly, when he wrote in a copy of Gascoigne's Works,
purchased in 1766, at Mallet's sale, " that be was the only
Scotchman who died, in his memory, unlamented by an
individual of bis own nation." Steevens probably made
this remark to Johnson, who forgot the precise terms. The
first time we meet with the name of David Mallet is in
1726, in a list of the subscribers to Savage's Miscellanies.
Mallet's first production in England was the celebrated
and affecting ballad of " William and Margaret," which
was printed in. Aaron Hill's " Plain Dealer," No. 36, July
14, 1724, and which in its original state was very different
from what it is in the last editions of his works. Of this,
says Dr. Johnson, he has been envied the reputation ; and
plagiarism has been boldly charged, but never proved.
In 1728 he published " The Excursion," a poem in two
cantos, containing a desultory view of such scenes of na«
ture as his fancy or his knowledge led him to describe, and
which is not devoid of poetical spirit, and in respect to
diction is a close imitation of Thomson, whose " Seasons*'
were then in their full blossom of reputation.
in 1731 his first tragedy,* called " Eurydice*" was per*
forafed at Drury-lane, and very unfavourably received;
nor. when revived thirty years after, and supported by Gar-*
rick and Mrs. Cibber, could the town endure it with pa*
tience. On ibis last occasion Davies informs us that the
author would not take the blame upon himself; " he sat
in the orchestra, and bestowed bis execrations plentifully
upon the players, to whom he attributed the cold recep*
turn of his tragedy." About this time we find him an in*
mate in Mr. Knight's family at Gosfield, probably as tutor
to Mn Newsham, Mrs. Knight's son by her first husband*
Her third was the late earl Nugent. We shall soon have
occasion to quote a very remarkable passage from a letter
of Pope's to this lady, respecting Mallet
Soon after the exhibition of " Eurydice," Mr. Mallet
published his poem on " Verbal Criticism," a subject
which he either did not understand, or willingly misrepre*
Vol. XXI. O
194 MALLET.
sented *. "There is in this poem," says Dr. Johnson, " more
pertness than wit, and more confidence than knowledge*
The versification is tolerable, nor can criticism allow it »
higher praise." It was written to pay court to Pope, who'
soon after introduced him, we may add, " in an evil hour"
to lord Bolingbroke. The ruin of Pope's reputation might
have been dated from this hour, if the joint malignity of
Bolingbroke and Mallet could have effected it. Mallet
was now in the way to promotion. When the prince of
Wales, at variance with his father, placed himself at the
head of the opposition, and kept a separate court, he en-
deavoured to increase his popularity by the patronage of
literature; and Mallet being recommended to him, his royal
highness appointed him his under-secretary, with a salary
of 200/. a year.
While in this employment, he published in 1739, " Mus*
taphfe" a tragedy, dedicated to his royal patron. Thom-
son's " Edward and Eleonora" had been excluded the
*
stage, because the licenser discovered in it a formidable
attack on the minister, yet Mallet's " Mustapha," which
was thought, and was no doubt intended, to glance both
at the king and sir Robert Walpole, in the characters of
Solyman the Magnificent, and Rustan his visier, was al-
lowed to be acted, and was acted with great applause.
•The language of this tragedy is more easy and natural than
that of " Eurydice," but its success was much owing to
its political allusions. On the first night of its exhibition*
, the heads of the opposition were all assembled, and many
speeches were applied by the audience to the supposed
grievances of the times, and to persons and characters.
In the following year, Thomson and Mallet were com-
manded by the prince of Wales to write the masque of
V Alfred," in honour of the birth-day of lady Augusta, bis
eldest daughter (the late duchess of Brunswick), which was
twice acted in the gardens of Clifden by some of the Lon-
don performers. After the death of Thomson in 1748,
Mallet re-wrote the Masque of Alfred, under the influence
and by the encouragement of, lord Bolingbroke; and with
* Wart on says he wrote this poem names as the Scaligers, Salmasinses,
to gratify Pope, by abusing Bentley, Heiiwiuses, Burmans, Gronoviuses*
which, he adds, " is stuffed with i Hi be- Retskiuses, Marklands, Gesners, and
rat cant about pedantry, and- collators Heynes."— Essay on Pope, vol* II. p.
of manuscripts. Real scholars will 231, edit. 1806.
always speak with due regard of such
MALLET. 19*
the assistance of music and gorgeous scenery, it was acted
with some, but no great success.
In 1747 Mallet published his "Hermit, or Amyntor
and Theodora,9' a poem in which Dr. Johnson allows that
there is copiousness and elegance of language (which in-
deed appear in most of Mallet's works), vigour of sentiment,
and imagery well adapted to take possession of the fancy.
It abounds also with many excellent moral precepts, which
receive weight and energy from the sanction of religion, a
foundation on which Mallet did not always build. Drr
Warton was much censured for saying in his " Essay on
the Life and Writings of Pope," that " the nauseous affec-
tation of expressing every thing pompously and poetically,
is nowhere more visible than in a poem lately published,
called Amyntor and Theodora;" but Warton was not a
rash critic, and retained the sentence in the subsequent
editions of his " Essay."
Not long after this, Mallet was employed by lord Bo*
lingbroke in an office which he executed with all the malig-
nity that bis employer could wish. This was no other than
to defame the character of Pope*— Pope, who by leaving
the whole of his MSS to lord Bolingbroke, had made him
in some respect the guardian of his character — Pope, on
whose death -bed lord Bolingbroke looking earnestly down,
repeated several times, interrupted with sobs, " O great
God, what is man? I never knew a person that had so
tender a heart for his particular friends, or a warmer be-
nevolence for all mankind !" who certainly had idolized this
nobleman throughout his whole life, and who adhered to
his lordship's cause through all the vicissitudes of popular
odium and exile. What could have induced Bolingbroke
to the gpplice of degrading Pope's character, and the cow-
ardice of employing a hireling to do it ? T|ie simple fact
is, that after Pope's death it was thought to be discovered
that be had privately printed 1500 copies of one of lord
Bolingbroke's works, "The Patriot King," the perusal of
which his lordship wished to be confined to a select few.
This offence, which Mallet only could have traced to a bkd
motive, if fairly examined, will probably seem dispropor-
tioned to the rage and resentment of Bolingbroke. A very
acute examiner of evidence (Mr. D' Israeli) has therefore
imputed that to the preference with which Pope had dis-
tinguished Warburton, and is of opinion that Warburton,
much more than Pope, was the real object. Between
o 2
196 MALLET.
Bolingbroke and Warburton there was, it is well known,
a secret jealousy, which at length appeared in mutual and
undisguised contempt But much of this narrative belongs
rather to them than to Mallet, who could feel no resent-
ment, could plead no provocation. On the contrary, he
had every inducement to reflect with tenderness on the
memory and friendship of Pope, who speaks of him, in a
letter we have already alluded to, in the following terms :
'< To prove to you how little essential to friendship I hold
letter-writing — I have not yet written to Mr. Mallet, whom
I love and esteem greatly, nay whom / knew to have as
tender a heart) and tYnx feels a friendly remembrance as long
as any man" Such was the man who gladly undertook
what Bolingbroke was ashamed to perform, and in a pre*
face to the " Patriot King" misrepresented the conduct of
Pope in language the most malignant and contemptuous**
That he had an eye to his own interest in all this, it
would be a miserable affectation of liberality to doubt. No
other motive can account for his conduct, and this conduct
will be foi/nd to correspond with *his general character.
Bolingbroke accordingly rewarded him by bequeathing to
him all his writings published and unpublished, and Mallet
immediately began to prepare them for the press. His
conduct at the very outset of this business affords another
illustration of bis character, franc kl in, the printer, to
whom many of the political pieces written during the op-
position to Walpole, had been given, as he supposed, in
perpetuity, laid claim to some compensation for those.
Mallet allowed his claim, and the question was referred to
arbitrators, who were empowered to decide upon it, by
an instrument signed by the parties ; but when they de-
cided unfavourably to Mr. Mallet, he refused to yield to
the decision, and the printer was thus deprived of the be-
nefit of the award, by not having insisted upon bonds of
arbitration, to which Mallet bad objected as degrading to
a man of honour/ He then proceeded, with the help of
Millar, the bookseller, to publish all be could find ; and
so sanguine was he in his expectations, that he rejected
the offer of 3000/. which Millar offered him for the copy*
right, although he was at this time so distressed for money
that he was forced to borrow some of Millar to pay the sta-
■ ¥
* After all that has been said on this of the "Patriot King," as we shall
subject, Ralph AUeu, and not Pope, have occasion to notice hereafter*
Has the person who pirated the edition
MALLET. 197
tioner and printer. Tbe work at last appeared, in 5 vols.
4to, and Mallet had soon reason to repent bis refusal of
tbe bookseller's offer, as this edition was not sold off in
twenty years. As these volumes contained many bold at-
tacks on revealed religion, they brought much obloquy on
the editor, and even a presentment was made of them by
tbe grand-jury of Westminster. His memory, however,
will be thought to suffer yet more by his next appearance
in print ' When the nation was exasperated by the ill suc-
cess of the war, and the ministry wished to divert public
indignation from themselves, Mallet was employed to turn
it upon admiral Byng< In this be entered as heartily as,
into the defamation of Pope, and wrote a letter of accusa-
tion under the character of a " Plain Man," a large sheet,
which was circulated with great industry, and probably
was found to answer its purpose. The price of blood, on
this occasion, was a pensiou which he retained till his
death.
From this time (1757) until 1763, we hear nothing of
Mr. Mallet, except a dedication of his poems to tbe late
duke of Marlborough, in which he promises himself
speedily tbe honour of dedicating to him the life of his
illustrious predecessor. The cause of this promise is ano-
ther of those charges which have been brought against
Mallet, and which it will be difficult to repelL When the
celebrated John duke of Marlborough died, it was deter*
mined, that the history of his life should be transmitted to
posterity, and the papers supposed to contain the neces-
sary information were delivered to lord Molesworth, who
had been his favourite in Flanders. When Molesworth
died, the same papers were transferred with the same de-
sign to sir Richard Steele, who in some of his exigences
put them to pawn. They then remained with the old
doofaessf who in her will assigned tbe task to Mr, Glover,
the author of " Leonidas," and Mr. Mallet, with a reward
of 1000/. and a curious prohibition against inserting any
verses. There were other prohibitions and conditions,
however, which induced Glover, a man of spirit and vir-
tue, to decline the legacy. Mallet had no such scruples,
and besides the legacy, bad a pension from the late duke
of Marlborough to quicken his industry. He then began,
and continued to talk much and often of the progress he
had made, but on bis death, not a scrap could be disco-
vered of the history.
198 MALLET.
In the political disputes which commenced at the be-
ginning of the present reign, Mallet espoused the cause
of his countryman lord Bute, and is said to have written
his tragedy of " Elvira," with a view to serve his lordship.
This play was performed at Drury-lane in 1763 ; its ob-
ject was to recommend pacific sentiments, but the public
was dissatisfied with the late peace, and " Elvira,9' though
well performed, was easily rendered unpopular by the op*
ponents of the ministry. Dayies gives us an amusing
anecdote of his tricking Garrick into the performance of
this piece, by making him believe that he had introduced
the mention of him in his life of Marlborough, a bait
which Mallet's principles suggested, and which Garrick's
vanity readily swallowed. Garrick got little by the play,
but Mallet was rewarded with the office of keeping the
book of entries for ships in the port of London.
Towards the end of his life, Mallet went with his wife
to France, but after a while finding his health declining,
returned alone to'England, and died April 21, 1765. He
was twice married. Of his first wife we find no mention,
but by her he had several children. One daughter, who
married an Italian of rank, named Cilesia, wrote a tragedy
called " Almida," which was acted at Drury-lane. This
lady died at Genoa in 1790. His second wife, whom he
married in October 1742, was miss Lucy Elstob, daughter
to lord Carlisle's steward. She had a fortune of 10,000/.
all of which she took care to settle upon herself; but she
was equally careful that Mallet should appear like a gen*
tleman of distinction, and from her great kindness, always
chose herself to purchase every thing that be wore, and to
let her friends know that she did so. This lady's senti-
ments were congenial to those of her husband, who was
a professed free-thinker. Tbey kept a good table (at
which Gibbon appears to have been frequently a guest),
and the lady, proud of her opinions, would often, we are
told, in the warmth of argument, say, " Sir, wc deists" .
Mr. Mallet's stature, says Dr. Johnson, " was diminutive,
but he was regularly formed. His appearance, till he
grew corpulent, was agreeable, and he suffered it to want
no recommendation that dress could give it„ His conver-
sation was elegant, and easy." Of his character in other
respects, it would be unnecessary to add any thing to the
preceding facts. As- a writer he cannot be placed in any
high class, nor is there any species of composition in whicj}
MALLET. 19§
lie is eminent ; yet his poetry surely entitles him to a place
in every collection of English bards. In his poems as well
as his prose compositions, elegance of style predominates,
and he appears to have written with ease. His " Life of
Lord Bacon/' prefixed to an edition of that illustrious phi-
losopher's works in 1740, has been censured as touching
too little on the philosophical part of the character. The
writing it, however, was probably a matter of necessity
rather than choice, and while be could not afford to refuse
the employment, he was too conscious of bis inability to
attempt any other than what he has accomplished, an ele-
gant narrative of the events of lord Bacon's life. Of Mal-
let's works, prose and verse, aa edition was published in
1769, 3 vols, small 8vo.*
MALLET (Edmund), was one of the writers iu the
French Encyclopedie, and one of those whose articles are
the most valuable in that work. They are chiefly on the
subjects of divinity and belles lettres, and if only men as
sound and judicious as the abb6 Mallet had been employed,
that publication would have proved as useful as it has been
found pernicious. He was born at Melun in 1713, and
educated at the college of the Barnabites' at Montargis.
He was afterwards engaged as tutor in the family of a far-
mer general. In 1742 he was admitted into the faculty of
theology at Paris, and was employed on a cure near his
native town till 1751, when he was invited to be professor
of divinity in the college of Navarre. The more he was
known, the more his merits were perceived; and the charge
of Jansenism, which had been circulated against him, was
gradually cleared away. Boyer, then bishop of Mirepoix,
as a testimony of his regard, presented him to a canonry
of Verdun. He died at Paris in 1755. Besides his share
in the Encyclopedic, he wrote several works on the prin-
ciples of poetry and eloquence. His style is neat, easy,
and unaffected ; and he has great skill in developing the
merits of good writers, and illustrating his precepts by the
most apposite examples from their works. He published
also a history of the civil wars of France, under the reigns
1 Johnson's Poets. — Davies's Life of Garrick, vol. II. p. 27 — 60, 280.—
Bowles's edition of Pope.— Ruffhead's Life of Pope, 4to edit. p. 414. — Swift's'
Works, rol. XIX.— Boswell's Tour and Life of Johnson. — Sheffield's Life of
Gibson, vol. I. p. 111. 422. — D'Israeli's Quarrels of Authors, vol. I.-— Genlle-
saafi's Magazine ; see Index.
SO* MALLET.
of Fnuigois II. Charles IX. &c. translated from the Italian
of D'Avila, and published at Amsterdam in 3 vols. 4to.1
MALLET (James). See DU PAN.
MALLET (Paul Henry), a learned historian and anti-
quary, first professor of history in his native city, was born
at Geneva in 1730, became afterwards professor royal of
the belies lettres at Copenhagen, a member of the acade-
mies of Upsal, Lyons, Cassel, and of the Celtique aca-
demy of Paris. Of his life no account has yet appeared.
He joined an extensive acquaintance with history and ge-
neral literature to great natural talents. The amenity of
his disposition caused his company to be much sought,
while his solid qualities procured him friends who deeply
regretted his loss. The troubles of Geneva during the first
revolutionary war deprived him of the greatest part of his
fortune; and he was indebted, for the moderate compe-
tence he retained, to pensions from the duke of Brunswick
and the landgrave of Hesse ; but the events of the late war
deprived him of both those pennons. The French govern*
ment is said to have designed him a recompense, but this
was prevented by his death, at Geneva, Feb. 8, 1807. His
works were: 1. " Histoire de Danemarck," to the eigh-
teenth century, the best edition of which is that of 1787.
2. A translation of Coxe's " Travels," with remarks and
addition*, and a relation of bis own Travels in Sweden, 2
vols. 4 to. 3. Translation of the Acta and form of the
Swedish government, 12mo. 4. "Histoire de Hesse/' to
the seventeenth century, 3 vols. 8vo. 5. " Histoire de la
maisoti de Brunswick," to its accession to the throne of
Great Britain, 3 vols. 8vo. 6. " Histoire des Suisses,"
from the earliest times to the commencement of the late
revolution, Geneva, 1803, 4 vols. 8vo. 7. " Histoire de la
Ligne Anseatique," from its origin to its decline, 1 305, 2
vols. 8vo. He had discovered at Rome the chronological
series of Icelandic bishops, which bad been lost in Den-
mark. It is published in the third volume of Langebeck's
collection of Danish writers. The late Dr. Percy, bishop
of Dromore, has made us acquainted with professor Mal-
let's merit as an antiquary by his excellent translation en-
titled " Northern Antiquities; or a Description of the
manners, customs, religion, aud laws, of the ancient
Danes, and other northern nations ; including those of our
v.
-i Moreri,— -Diet Hist.— Preface to the Sixth Vol. of the Eftcyclopedie.
MALLET.
201
own Saxon ancestors. With a translation of the Edda, or
system of Runic mythology, and other pieces from the
ancient Islandic Tongue. Translated from M. Mallet's
Introduction k l'Histoire de Danemarck," &c. 1770, 2 vols.
$vo. To this Dr. Percy has added many valuable and cu-
rious notes, and Goranson's Latin version of the " Edda."
It was very justly said, at the time, by the Monthly Re-
viewer, that Or. Percy bad, in this instance, given a trans*
latioa more valuable than the original.1
MALLINKROTT (Bernard), dean of the cathedral of
Munster, and celebrated for his inquiries into typographi-
cal antiquities, was certainly a learned man, but very tur-
bulent and ambitious. Hence it happened that he was
named to two bishoprics without taking possession of either,
and that he died in prison for his opposition to another
prelate. The emperor Ferdinand I. appointed him to the
bishopric of Ratzebourg, and he was, a few days after,
elected to the see of Minden. But his ambition was to be
bishop of Munster, and not succeeding, in 1650, he in-
trigued and raised seditions against the bishop who had
succeeded, till in 1655, he was degraded from his dignity
of dean. Nor yet warned, he continued his machinations,
and in 1657, the bishop bad bim arrested and confined in
the castle of Otteinzheim. Here he continued till his
death, which happened suddenly, March 7, 1664. He
wrote in Latin, 1. "De nAtura et nsu Literarum," Mun-
ster, 1638, 4to, 2. " De ortu et progressu artis Typogra-
phies," Cologne, 1639, 4to, and since reprinted in Wolfs
collection of " Monumenta Typographical' vol. I. 1740.
3. " De Archicancellariis S. R. imperii," Munster, 1640,
4to. 4. " Paralipomenon de Historicis Gracis," Cologne,
1656, 4to.«
MALMSBURY (William of), an ancient English his-
torian, who flourished in the twelfth century, was born in
Somersetshire, and, on that account, as Bale and Pits in-*
.form us, was called Somersetanus. When a child, he him-
self says, he discovered a fondness for learning, which was
encouraged by his parents, and increased with his years.
Some have supposed Oxford to have been the place of his
ediication* He became, however, a monk of Malmsbury,
and it reflects no small honour on his fraternity, that they
» Diet Hwt— AthtMeum, vol. II.
* Niceron, roi. XXX— Lif« by Stnmat, prafiied to kit editioa of the " Dt
Arohicancellariif, &c."
f 02 M A L M S B U R Y.
elected him their librarian. He had studied several
sciences, as they could then be acquired, logic, physic,
and ethics, but history appears to have been his favourite
pursuit. After studying that of countries abroad, he be-
gan to inquire into the memorable transactions of his own
nation ; but not finding any satisfactory history already
written, he resolved, as he says, to write one, not to dis-
play his learning, " which is no great matter, but to bring
to light things that are covered with the rubbish of anti-
quity." This resolution produced his valuable work " De
regibus Anglorum," a general history of England in five
books, from the arrival of the Saxons, in the year 449 to
the 26 Henry I. in 1126; and a modern history, in two
books, from that year to the escape of the empress Maud
out of Oxford in 1143; with a church history of England
iu four books, published in sir H. Savile's collection, 1596.
His merits as a historian have been justly displayed and
recommended by lord Lyttelton in his " History of Henry
II." In all his works (the Latin style of which is more
pure than that of any of his contemporaries), he discovers
great diligence, much good sense, and a sacred regard to
truth, accompanied with uncommon modesty. He says
that he can scarcely expect the applause of his contempo-
raries, but he hopes that when both favour and malevo-
lence are dead, he shall obtain from posterity the charac-
ter of an industrious, though not of an eloquent historian.
Besides what we have mentioned, Gale has printed his
" Antiquities of Glastonbury,9* aud Wharton his " Life of
St Adhelm." But his abilities were not confined to prose.
He wrote many pieces of Latin poetry ; and it is remark-
able, says Warton, that almost all the professed prose
writers of this age made experiments in verse. William of
Malmsbufy died in that abbey in 1143.1
MA LONE (Edmond), a gentleman of great literary
research, and one of the ablest commentators on Shaks-
peare, was descended from an Irish family of the highest
antiquity, an account of which may be found in the se-
venth volume of ArcbdalPs Peerage of Ireland, which, it
is believed, was drawn up by Mr. Malone himself. All his
immediate predecessors were distinguished men. His
grandfather) while only a student at the Temple, was en-
i Nicolson's Enelish Hist. Library.— Henry's Hist of Gr. Britain, vol. VI. p.
136 .— Leland. — Bale, and Pits.— Wharton's Aoglia Sacra.— Warton' s History
of Poetry.
MALONE. . SOS
i
v *
trusted with a negotiation in Holland ; and so successfully
acquitted himself, that be was honoured and rewarded by
king William for his services. Having been called to the
Irish bar about 1 700, he became one of the most Eminent
barristers that have ever appeared in that country. His
professional fame has only been eclipsed by that of his
eldest son, the still more celebrated Anthony Malone, who
as a lawyer, an orator, and an able and upright statesman,
was confessedly one of the most illustrious men that his
country has produced. Edmond, the second son of Richard,
and the father of the late Mr. Malone, was born on the
16th of April, 170*. He was called to the English bar in
1730, where he continued for ten years to practise; and,
in 1740, removed to the Irish bar. After having sat in
several parliaments, and gone through the usual gradation*
of professional rank, he was raised, in 1766, to the dig-
nity of one of the judges of the court of common pleas in
Ireland, an office which he filled till his death in 1774.
He married, in 1736, Catherine, only daughter and heir
of Benjamin Collier, esq. of Ruckholts, in the county of
Essex, by whom he had four sons, Richard, now lord Sun*
derlin ; Edmond, the subject of our present memoir ; An-
thony and Benjamin, who died in their infancy ; and two
daughters, Henrietta and Catherine.
Edmond Malone was born at his father's house in Dub-
lin, on the 4th of October, 1741. He was educated at
the school of Dr. Ford, in Molesworth-street ; and went
from thence, in 1756, to the university of Dublin, where
he took the degree of batchelor of arts. Here his talents
very early displayed themselves ; and he was distinguished
by a successful competition for academical honours with
several young men, who afterwards became the ornaments
of the Irish senate and bar. It appears that at his outset
he had laid down to himself those rules of study to which
he ever afterwards steadily adhered. When sitting down
to the perusal of any work, either ancient or modern, his
attention was drawn to its chronology, the history and cha-
racter of its author, the feelings and prejudices of the times
in which he lived ; and any other collateral information
which might tend to illustrate his writings, or acquaint us
with his probable views, and cast of thinking. In later
years he was more particularly engrossed by the literature
of his own country ; but the knowledge he had acquired in
(lis youth had been too assiduously Collected, and to*
*Q# HALONE.
firmly fixed in his mind, not to retain possession of his
memory, and preserve that purity and elegance of taste
which is rarely to be met with but in those who have early
derived it from the models of classical antiquity. He ap-
pears frequently at this period, in common with some of
his accomplished contemporaries, to hate amused himself
with slight poetical compositions ; and on the marriage of
their present majesties contributed an ode to the collection
of congratulatory verses which issued on that event from
the university of Dublin. In 1763 he became a student in
the Inner Temple ; and in 1767 was called to the Irish bar,
and, at his first appearance in the courts, he gave every
promise of future eminence. But an independent fortune
having soon after devolved upon him, he felt himself at
liberty to retire from the bar, and devote his whole atten-
tion in future to literary pursuits, for which purpose be
soon after settled in London, and resided there with very
little intermission for the remainder of his life. Among
the many eminent men with whom he became early ac-
quainted, he was naturally drawn by the enthusiastic ad-
miration which he felt for Shakspeare, and the attention
which he bad already paid to the elucidation of his works,
into a particularly intimate intercourse with Mr. Steevenst
The just views which he himself had formed led him to
recognize in the system of criticism and illustration which
that gentleman then adopted, the only means by which a
correct exhibition of our great poet could be obtained.
Mr. Steevens was gratified to find {hat one so well ac-
quainted with the subject entertained that high estimation
of his labours which Mr. Malone expressed; and very soon
discovered the advantage he might derive from the com*
munications of a mind so richly stored. Mr. Malone was
ready and liberal in imparting his knowledge, which, on
the other part, was most gratefully received.
Mr. Steevens having published a second edition' of bis
Shakspeare, in 177S, Mr. Malone, in 1780, added two
supplementary volumes, which contained some addi-
tional notes, Shakspeare's poems, and seven plays which
have been ascribed to him. There appears up to this
time to have been no interruption to their friendship ; but*
on the contrary, Mr. Steevens, having formed a design of
relinquishing all future editorial labours, most liberally
made a present to Mr. Malone of bis valuable collection of
old plays, declaring that he himself was now become " a-
M A L O N E. 20S
dowager commentator." It is painful to think that this
harmony should ever have been disturbed, or that any thing
should have created any variance between two such men,
who were so well qualified to co-operate for the benefit of
the literary world. Mr. Malone,, having continued his re-
searches into all the topics which might serve to illustrate
our great dramatist, discovered, that although much had
been done, yet that much still remained for critical indus-
try ; and that a still more accurate collation of the early
copies than had hitherto taken place was necessary towards
a correct and faithful exhibition of the author's text. His
materials accumulated so fast, that he determined to ap-
pear before the world as an editor in form. From that mo-
ment he seepis to have been regarded with jealousy by the
elder commentator, who appears to have sought an oppor-
tunity for a rupture, which be soon afterwards found, or
rather created. But it is necessary to go back for a mo-
ment, to point out another of Mr. Malone* s productions.
There are few events in literary history more extraordinary
in all its circumstances than the publication of the poems
attributed to Rowley. Mr. Malone was firmly convinced
that the whole was a fabrication by Cbatterton ; and, to
support his opinion, published one of the earliest pam-
phlets which appeared in the course of this singular con-
troversy. By exhibiting a series of specimens from early
English writers, both prior and posterior to the period in
which this .supposed poet was represented to have lived, he
proved that his style bore no resemblance to genuine an-
tiquity; and by stripping Rowley of his antique garb,
which was easily done by the substitution of modern syno-
nymous .words in the places of those obsolete expressions
which are sprinkled throughout these compositions, and al
the same time intermingling some archaeological phrases in
the acknowledged productions of Cbatterton, he clearly
showed that they were all of the same character, and
equally bore evident marks of modern versification, and a
modern structure of language. He was followed by Mr.
Warton and Mr. Tyrwhitt, in his second Appendix ; and
the controversy was soon at an end. While Mn Malone
was engaged in his Shakspeare, he received from Mr.
Steevens a request of a most extraordinary nature* In a
third edition of Johnson and Steevena's Shakspeare, which
had been published under, the superintendance of Mr.
Reed, in 1785, Mr. Malone had contributed some notes
*0G MALONE.
in which Mr. Steevens' s opinions were occasionally con*
troverted. These he was now desired to retain in his new
.edition, exactly as they stood before, in order that Mr. S,
might answer them. Mr. Malone replied, that he could
make no such promise ; thatbe must feel himself at liberty
to correct his observations, where they were erroneous ;
to enlarge them, where they were defective ; and even to
expunge them altogether, where, upon further considera-
tion, he was convinced they were wrong ; in short, he was
bound to present his work to the public as perfect a& he
could make it. But he added, that he was willing to trans-
mit every note of that description in its last state to Mr.
Steevens, before it went to press ; that he might auswer it
if he pleased; and that Mr. Malone would even preclude
himself from the privilege of replying. Mr. Steevens per-
sisted in requiring that they should appear with all their im-
perfections on their head ; and on this being refused, de-
clared that all communication on the subject of Shakspeare
was at an end between them*. In 1790, Mr. Malone' s
edition at last appeared ; and was sought after and read
with the greatest avidity. It is unnecessary to point out
its merits ; the public opinion upon it has been long pro-
nounced. It cannot indeed be strictly said that it met
with universal approbation. Mr. Ritson appeared against
it in an angry and scurrilous pamphlet, replete with mis-
representations so gross, and so easy of detection, though
calculated to mislead a careless reader, that Mr. Malone
thought it worth his while to point them out in, a letter
which he published, addressed to his friend Dr. Farmer.
Poor Ritson, however, has not been the only one who has
attempted to persuade the world that they have been mis-
taken in Mr. Malone's character as a critic. Mr. Home
Tooke in particular, who, whatever were his talents as a
grammarian, or his knowledge as an Anglo-Saxon, had by
no means an extensive acquaintance with the literature of
Shakspeare's age, has mentioned Mr. Malone and Dr.
Johnson with equal contempt, and immediately after pro-
ceeds to sneer at Mr. Tyrwhitt. It may readily be sup-
pqsed that Mr. Malone would not feel very acutely the
satire which associated hjm with such companions. But,
to counterbalance these puny hostilities, his work gained
* These particulars are collected from the correspondence which pissed
between them, which Mr. Malone preserved.
M A L O N E. 20?
i
the highest testimonies of applause from all who were besl
qualified to judge upon the subject, and from men whose
approbation any one would be proud to obtain. Dr. J.
Warton, in a most friendly letter, which accompanied a cu-
rious volume of old English poetry which had belonged to
his brother Thomas, and which he presented to Mr. Ma-
lone as the person for whom its former possessor felt the
highest esteem and the most cordial regard, observes to
him that his edition is by far, very far, the best that had
ever appeared. Professor Porson, who, as every one who
knew him can testify, was by no means in the habit of be-
stowing hasty or thoughtless praise, declared to Mr. Ma*
lone's biographer, that he considered the Essay on the
three parts of Henry the Sixth as one of the most convin-
cing pieces of criticism that he bad ever read ; nor was
Mr. Burke less liberal in his praises.
Having concluded his laborious work, Mr. Malone paid
a visit to his friends in Ireland ; but soon after returned to
his usual occupations in London. Amidst his own numer-
ous and pressing avocations be was not inattentive to the
calls of friendship. In 1791 appeared Mr. BoswelPs Life
of Dr. Johnson, a work in which Mr. Malone felt at all
times a very lively interest, and gave every assistance to
its author during its progress which it was in his power to
bestow. . His acquaintance with this gentleman commenced
in 17,85, when, happening accidentally at Mr. Baldwin's
printing-house to be shewn a sheet of the Tour to the He-
brides, which contained Johnson's character, he was so
much struck with the spirit and fidelity of the portrait,
that, he requested to be introduced to its writer. From
this period a friendship took place between them, which
ripened into the strictest and most cordial intimacy, and
lasted without interruption as long as Mr. Boswell lived.
After his death, in 1795, Mr. Malone continued to -show
every mark of affectionate attention towards his family ;
and in every successive edition of Johnson's Life took
the most unwearied pains to render it as much as possible
correct and perfect. He illustrated it with many notes
of his own, and procured many valuable communica-
tions from his friends, among whom its readers will readily
distinguish Mr. Bindley. Any account of Mr. Malone
would be imperfect which omitted to mention his long in-
timacy with that gentleman, who. is not so remarkable as
the possessor of one of the most valuable libraries in this
SOS MALONE.
country, as he is for the accurate and extensive informa-
tion which enables him to use it, and the benevolent po-
liteness with which be is always willing to impart his know-
ledge to others. There was no one whom Mr. Malone
more cordially loved.
In 1795 he was again called forth to display his zeal in
defence of Shakspeare, against the contemptible fabrica-
tions with which the Irelands endeavoured to delude the
public. Although this imposture, unlike the Rowleian
poems, which were performances of extraordinary genius,
exhibited about the same proportion of talent as it did of
honesty, yet some persons of no small name were hastily
led into a belief of its authenticity. Mr. Malone saw '
through the falsehood of the whole from its commence-
ment; and laid bare the fraud, in a pamphlet, which was
written in the form of a letter to his friend lord Cbarle-
inont, a nobleman with whom he lived on the most intimate
footing, and maintained a constant correspondence. It
has been thought by some that the labour which he be*
stowed upon this performance was more than commensurate
with the importance of the subject ; and it is true that a
slighter effort would have been sufficient to have over-*
thrown this wretched fabrication; but we have reason to
rejoice that Mr. Malone was led into a fuller discussion
than was bis intention at the outset ; we owe to it a work
which, for acute ness of reasoning, and the curious and in*
teresting view which it presents of English literature, will
retain its value long after the trash which it was designed
to expose shall have been consigned to oblivion. Mr. Ma-
lone, in 1792, had the misfortune to lose his admirable
friend sir Joshua Reynolds, and bis executors, of whom
Mr. Malone had the honour to be one, having determined
in 1797 to give the world a complete collection of his
works, he superintended the publication, and prefixed to
ip a very pleasing biographical sketch of their author. Al-
though his attention was still principally directed to Shak-
speare, and be was gradually accumulating a most valuable
mass of materials for a new edition of that poet, he found
time to do justice to another. He drew together, from
various sources, the prose works of Pryden, which, as
they had lain scattered about, and some of thorn appended
to works which were little known, had never impressed
the general reader with that opinion of their excellence
which they deserved; and published them in 1800. The
MALONE. 20*
narrative which he prefixed is a most important accession
to biography. By active inquiry, and industrious and
acute research, he ascertained many particulars of his life
and character that had been supposed to be irrecoverably
lost, and detected the falsehood of many a traditionary tale
that bad been carelessly repeated by former writers. In
1808 he prepared for the press a few productions of his
friend, the celebrated William Gerard Hamilton, with
which he had been entrusted by his executors ; and pre-
fixed to this also a brief but elegant sketch of his life. In
1811 his country was deprived of Mr. Windham. Mr.
Malone, who equally admired and loved him, drew up a
short memorial of his amiable and illustrious friend, which
originally appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine; and
was afterwards, in an enlarged <and corrected state, printed
in a small pamphlet, and privately distributed. But the
kind biographer was too soon to want " the generous tear
he paid." A gradual decay appears to have undermined
his constitution ; and when he was just on the point of
going to the press with his new edition of Shakspeare, he
was interrupted by an illness, which proved fatal ; and, to
the irreparable loss of all who knew him, he died on the
25th of May, 1812, in the 70th year of his age. In his
last illness he was soothed by the tender and unremitting
attentions of his brother, lord Sunderiin, and his youngest
sister ; the eldest, from her own weak state of health, was
debarred from this melancholy consolation. He left no
directions about his funeral; but his brother, who was
anxious, with affectionate solicitude, to execute every wish
he had formed, having inferred from something that dropt
from him, that it was his desire to be buried among his
ancestors in Ireland, his remains were conveyed to that
country, and interred at the family seat of Baronston, in
the county of Wiestmeath.
Mr. Malone, in his person, was rather under the middle
size. The urbanity of his temper, and the kindness of his
disposition, were depictured in his mild and placid coun-
tenance. His manners were peculiarly engaging. Accus-
tomed from his earliest years to the society of those who
were distinguished for their rank or talent, he was at all
times and in all companies easy, unembarrassed, and un-
assuming. It was impossible to meet him, even in the
most casual intercourse, without recognizing the genuine
Vol. XXL. P
210 M A L O N E.
and unaffected politeness of the gentleman born and bred*
His conversation was in a high degree entertaining and in-
structive; his knowledge was various and accurate* and
his mode of displaying it void of all vanity or pretension.
Though he had little relish. for noisy convivial merriment,
his habits were social, and his cheerfulness uniform and
unclouded. As a scholar, he was liberally communicative.
Attached, from principle and conviction, to the constitu-
tion of his country in church and state, which his intimate
acquaintance with its history taught him how to value, he
was a loyal subject, a sincere Christian, and a true son of
the Church of England. His heart was warm, and his
benevolence active. His charity was prompt, but judicious
and discriminating ; not carried away by every idle or fic-
titious tale of distress, but anxious to ascertain the nature
and source of real calamity, and indefatigable in his efforts
to relieve it. His purse and his time were at all times
ready to remove the sufferings, and promote the welfare of
others, and as a friend he was warm and steady in his at-
tachments. l
MALOUIN (Paul James), an eminent French chemist
and physician, was born at Caen in 1701, and was the son
of a counsellor, who sent him, when of a proper age, to
study law at Paris. Young Malouin, however, as soon as
he arrived there, without ever informing bis father, began
the study of medicine, and pursued it with such success
as well as secrecy, that on his return home in 1730, his
father, whom he had always satisfied in every respect as
to moral conduct, expenses, &c. and who expected to see
him return as a licentiate in law, was astonished to find
him a doctor of medicine, but was obliged at the. same
time to yield to a choice which indicated so much zeal
and decision. Nor was this a new profession in the family,
his uncle and grandfather having both been physicians,.
After remaining at home about three years, he went again
to Paris, and assisted Geoffroi in his chemical lectures,
and would probably have succeeded him had he been on
the spot when he died; but it was not until 1767 that he
was appointed in the room of Astruc, who was the imme-
1 From a " Biographical Memoir of the late Edmond M alone, esq." written
by James Boswelf, esq, of ihe Middle Temple, originally for the Gentleman'*
Magazine, but afterwards enlarged and reprinted for private distribution among
the friends of Mr. Malone. To Mr. Boswell we acknowledge our obligations
for a copy of this last edition of a vtry interesting and affectionate biographical
tribute, - - '
9
M A L O U I N.
211
diate successor of Geoffiroi. At Paris, where be got into
practice, it lay much among literary men, whom he found
generally very incredulous in the virtues of medicine.
Malouin, who was a perfect enthusiast in his art, had
many contests with them on this account. When a certain
great philosopher had been cured by taking Malouin's pre-
scriptions for a considerable time, and came to acknow-
ledge the obligation, Malouin embraced him and ex-*
claimed, " you deserve to be sick." (Vous etes digne d'etre
maladej. He could not, however, bear those who, after
being cured, indulged their pleasantries at the expence of
the faculty, and he broke off his acquaintance with an
eminent writer, who had been his patient, on this account.
On another occasion, when one of these wits with whom
he had had a warm dispute about his favourite art, and
had quarrelled, fell ill, Malouin sought hinf out, and
his first address was, " I know you are ill, and, that your
case has been improperly treated ; I am now come to visit
you, although I hate you ; but I Will cure you, and after
that never see your face more,'* and he kept his word in aUL
these points. This was, however, in him pure enthusiasm,
without any mixture of quackery. His liberal conduct and
talents were universally acknowledged, and he filled with
great reputation the honourable offices of professor of me-
dicine in the college of Paris, and physician in ordinary to
the queen. He was also a member of the academy of
sciences, and of our royal society. His love of medicine
did not binder him from paying equal attention to preven-
tatives, and he was distinguished for a habit of strict tem-
perance, which preserved his health and spirits to the ad-
vanced age of seventy-seven, without any of its infirmities.
His death was at last occasioned by a stroke of apoplexy,
which happened Dec. 31, 1777. He left a legacy to the
faculty on condition of their assembling once a year, and
giving an account of their labours and discoveries. His
principal works were, 1. "Traite* de Chimie," 1734, 12mo.
2. " Chimie medicinale," 1755, 2 vols. 12 mo, a work in
a very elegant style, and including many valuable obser- .
vations. He wrote also several articles in the dictionary
" Des arts et metiers," published by the academy of
sciences, and the chemical part of the u Encyclopedic" [
1 Eloges d«s Academiciens, ro\* II.— Diet. Hist.
P 2
212 M-ALPIGHI.
MALPIGHI (Marcellus), an Italian physician and
anatomist, was born March 10, 162$, at Crevalcuore, near
Bologna, in Italy, where he was taught Latin and studied
philosophy. In 1649, losing his parents, and being obliged
to choose his own method of life, he determined to apply
himself to physic. The university of Bologna was then
supplied with very learned professors in that science, par-
ticularly Bartholomew Massari, and Andrew Mariano, under
whose instructions Malpighi in a short time made great
progress in physic and anatomy. 'After he had finished
the usual course, he wasadmitted doctor of physic, April 6,
1653. In 1655 Massari died, a loss which Malpighi
severely felt, as independent of his esteem for him as a
master, he had become more nearly related to him by mar-
rying his sifter. In 1656, the senate of Bologna gave him
a professorship, which he did not long hold ; for the same
year the grand duke of Tuscany invited him to Pisa, to be
professor of physic there. Here he contracted a strict
friendship with Borelli, whom he subsequently owned for
his master in philosophy, and to whom he ascribed all the
discoveries which he afterwards made. They dissected
animals together, and it was in this employment that ha
found the heart to consist of spiral fibres; a discovery,
which has been ascribed to Borelli in his posthumous works.
The air of Pisa not agreeing with Malpighi, he continued
there but three years: and, in 1659, returned to Bologna
to resume his former posts, notwithstanding the advan-
tageous offers which were made him to stay at Pisa. In
1662 he was sent for to Messina, in order to succeed Peter
Castello, first professor of physic, who was just dead. It
was with reluctance that he went thither, though the sti-
pend was great ; and although he was prevailed on at last
by his friend Borelli, to accept it; yet in 1666 he returned
to Bologna. In 1669 he was elected a member of the
royal society of London, with which he ever after kept a
correspondence by letters, and communicated his disco-
veries in anatomy. Cardinal Pignatelli, who had known
him while he was legate at Bologna, being chosen pope in
1691, under the name of Innocent XII. immediately sent
for him to Rome, and appointed him his physician. In
1694 he was admitted into the academy of the Arcadians
3t Rome. July the 25th, of the same year, he had a fit, which
struck half his body with a paralysis ; and, November the
29th following, he had another, of which he died the same
\
M A L P I G H I. 21S
day, iu bis 67 th y$*r« His remains were embalmed, and
conveyed to Bologna, where they were interred with great
funeral honours in the church of St. Gregory, and a statuq
was erected to bis memory. Malpighi is described as a
man of a serious au4 melancholy temperament, which is
confirmed by his portrait in the meeting-room of the royal
society at Somerset-hovise. He was indefatigable in the
pursuit of knowledge, on the sure ground of experience
and observation, ever candid in his acknowledgments tp
those who bad given him any information, and devoid of.
all ostentation or pretension on the score of his own merits.
He ranks very high amoqg the philosophers of the physio-
logical age in which he lived, when nature began to be
studied instead of books, and the dreams of the schools.
Hence arose the discoveries of the circulation of the blood,
the absorbent system of the animal body, and the true
theory of generation. To spch improvements the investi-
gations of Malpighi, relative to the anatomy and trans-
formation of insects, particularly the silk- worm, and the
developetnent of the chick in the egg, lent no small aid.
From these inquiries he wps led to the anatomy and physio-
logy of plants, in which he is altogether an original, as
well as a very profound, observer* His line of study was
the sarpe as that of Grew, but these philosophers laboured
independent of each other, and their frequent coincidence
evinces the accuracy of both.
The first work which he published in 1661, and which
was afterwards frequently reprinted, comprised his micro-
scopical observations relative to the intimate structure of
the lungs, and was entitled " Observations Anatomicae de
Pulmooibus," fol. He published separate tracts concerning
the brain, the tongue, the external organ of touch, the
omentum, throat, and the adipose ducts, between the years
1661 and 1665 ; and subsequently, other tracts, respecting
the structure of the viscera, the kidneys, spleen, liver,
membranes of the brain, &c.
In 1669, when he became a fellow of our royal society,
his essay " de formatione pulli in ovo" was first printed, in
London, in quarto, as well as his remarks on the " Bombyx"
or silk-worm, and " De Glandulis conglobatis," forming his
three " Dissertationes Epistolicae." His " Anatome Plan-
terum," addressed to the royal society, accompanied by
observations on the incubation of the egg, was published
by that learned body in folio, with »any plates, in 1675
tU M A L P I G H I.
and 1 679. His works were republished at London in 1 686,
making two folio volumes; and more correctly at Amster-
dam, in 1687, 4to, and a posthumous volume appeared
here, accompanied with an account of his life, in 1697, of
which a re-impression was given at Venice, and another at
Leyden, the ensuing year. Some other dissertations are
to be found in the " Bibliotheca Anatomica," published by
Le Clerc and Manget at Geneva in 1685; especially MDe
Cornuum Vegetatione," " DeUtero et Viviparorum Avis;"
and " Epistol© quaedam circa illam de ovo dissertatio-
nem." His only medical work, " Consultationum Medi-
cinalium Centuria prima," was edited by Gaspari, in
1713, 4to, Patau. He is not, indeed, distinguished as a
practitioner, but he deserves praise for pointing out the
mischiefs of blood-letting, in the malignant epidemics
prevalent in Italy in his time. Aft edition of the whole of
his works was printed at Venice, in 1733, in folio, by
Gavinelli. l
1VJALUS (Stephen Louis), a distinguished mathema-
tician, philosopher, and military engineer, was born at
Paris July 23, 1775. His first education was principally
directed to classical and polite literature, pnd at seventeen
years of age he composed a tragedy in five acts, called
" The Death of Cato." These pursuits, however, did not
prevent him from a study apparently not very compatible,
that of the mathematics ; for at the above age he passed an
examination which gained him admittance into the school
of engineers. After having distinguished himself there by
his genius for analysis, he was about to leave it in quality
of officer of military engineers, but was rejected on politi-
cal grounds, and as this repulse deprived him of all hope
of promotion there, he repaired to the army in the north,
where he was incorporated in the 1 5th battalion of Paris,
and was employed as a common soldier in the fortifications
of Dunkirk. The officer of engineers, who superintended
those works, perceiving that Mai us was deserving of a
better station, represented his merits to the government,
and he was recalled and sent to the Polytechnic school,
where he was soon appointed to the analytic course in the
absence of M. Monge. Being now re-established in his
1 Life prefixed to his "Opera Postharoa," Lond. 1 697.— Reel's Cyclopaedia,
t— Fabroni Vitae Italorura, vol. III. — Niceron, vol. IV. — Ward's Gresham Pro-
fessor*, p. 320.— Thomson's Hist of the Royal Society.— Eloy, Diet. Hist, de fa
M4dj«inq,
/
M A L U S, 215
former rank at the date of his first nomination, he suc-
ceeded almost immediately to that of captain, and was em-
ployed at the school at Metz as professor of mathematics.
It was at this period (1797), that his military career
commenced, and in the army of the Sambre and Meuse
be was present at the passage of the Rhine. The same
year he formed an attachment to the lady who afterwards
became his wife. She was the daughter of the chancellor
of the university of Giessen ; but honour and duty pre-
vented him from then realising bis wishes. He was ob-
liged to embark for Egypt, and assisted at the battles of
Chebreis, and of the Pyramid?. He was chosen member
of the Institute of Cairo, but his life was too active and
busy to allow him to indulge his taste for , the sciences.
One only occasion presented itself, of which be knew how
to take advantage. In a reconnoitre on which he was or-
dered along, with M. Lef£vre, engineer of bridges and
causeways, he had the satisfaction to discover £ branch of
the Nile, hitherto unknown to travellers, and to draw a
description and map of a country wh/ere no Frenchman had
penetrated since the crusades; and the memoir which he
wrote on this subject forms part of the first volume of " La,
Decade Egyptienne." But it was as a military engineer
that he principally distinguished himself during this me?
morable expedition, particularly during the dangers of all
kinds which attended him in Syria, and at the siege of
Ei-Harisch, and Jaffa, where he filled the office of en-
gineer* After the capture of this town, he received or-
ders to repair the fortifications, and to establish military
hospitals- Here he was attacked by the plague, of which
he had the good fortune to cure himself without any fo-
reign assistance. Scarcely recovered, he hastened to Da-
mietta on business, and from thence marched against the
Turks who had landed at Lisbech ; and was present at the
battle of Heliopolis and Coraim, and at the siege of Cairo.
After other movements, which will be found in the history
of that expedition, he embarked at Aboukir, and arrived
in France in Oct. 1801.
; Although exhausted by so many fatigues, and by the
dreadftj diseases which had undermined his constitution,
he did not neglect his promise to his mistress, but married
her soon after his arrival, and their union, though short,
was happy. About the time of his marriage, Mai us gained
new celebrity by a work in which he treated all the opti-i
216 M A L U S.
cal questions which depend on geometry, and in which he
expounded and calculated all the phenomena of reflection
and refraction, and followed the ray of light through all its
various courses. This production called the attention of
the learned to the phenomenon of double refraction^ which
had occupied Huygens and Newton ; atod hopes were en-
tertained of obtaining an explanation of a fact which had
defied the penetration of the greatest geniuses. The In-
stitute of France made it the subject of a prize, which
Malus gained, and shewed that to the analytical knowledge
of which he bad given proofs in his first work, he coukl
unite the patience, the skill, and the sagacity, which con-*
stitute a great philosopher* By very nice experiments he
discovered a remarkable and totally unknown property of
light, that is, the resemblance between the loadstone and
a particle of light, the latter of which he found to acquire
polarity and a determined direction. This success opened
the doors of the Institute to him, where be supplied the
place of a philosopher whose name had been immortalized
by a brilliant discovery (Montgolfier).
Malus was a member of the legion of honour, and under
director of the fortifications at Antwerp in 1 804 ; under-
director of the barracks in the department of the 'Seine, in
1809 ; member of the committee of fortifications, and ma-
jor of engineers, in 1810. In 1811 he was second in com-
mand, director of the studies of the Polytechnic school, in
which he performed for several years, to the satisfaction of
the directors and pupils, the arduous duties of examiner.
These various occupations did not prevent him from conti-
nuing the ingenious experiments on which his fame was to
be chiefly founded, and which procured him the Copley
medal from our royal society.
The activity of Malus was equal to so many different
pursuits. Though he carried in his habit the seeds of that
severe illness which was so soon to terminate his life,
scarcely a week elapsed without his submitting to the Insti-
tute new fruits of his researches -, and his name being at-
tached to the phenomenon of polarised light, which he
discovered, all future discoveries of this kind must recall
the remembrance of the philosopher who first opened this
hew road, and who, if he had lived, would have probably
completed the theory of light. He died February 24th,
1812, in the thirty-seventh year of his age, a loss which
cannot be sufficiently deplored, as his learning, his genius,
MALUS, J17
and indefatigable industry, afforded every hope that
length of years would have added to his discoveries, and
extended the boundaries of science. His discovery of the
polarisation of light by oblique reflection is perhaps the
most important that optics has received since the discovery
of the achromatic telescope.1
MALVENDA (Thomas), a learned Dominican, born
hi 1566, at Xativa, taught philosophy and divinity with
great reputation in his order. Baronius, hearing of his
abilities, persuaded his general to send for him to Rome,
that he might have the benefit of his advice. Malvenda
accordingly gbve Baronius great assistance, and was em-
ployed, at the same time, to correct all the ecclesiastical
books of his order, which he did with much accuracy. He
died May 7, 1628, at Valencia in Spain, aged sixty-three.
His most esteemed works are, a treatise " De Anti-Christo,"
the best edition of which is that of Valencia, 1621, folio ;
*' A new Version of the Hebrew Text of the Bible, with
Notes," Lyons, 1650, 5 vols, folio; "Annales Ordinis
Praedicatorum," Naples, 1627, folio.*
MALVEZZI (Virgil), commonly called the marquis
Malvezzi, an Italian writer of eminence, was bom of a
noble family at Bologna, in 1599. After having finished
his classical and philosophical studies, he applied to the
law, and became a doctor in that faculty in 1616, although
not quite seventeen years of age. After this he cultivated
other sciences, and spent some time and pains upon phy-
sic, mathematics, and divinity. He even did not neglect
astrology ; in favour of which he always entertained high
prejudices, although he affected- outwardly to despise it.
Music and painting were also among the arts in which he
exercised himself for his amusement. He afterwards be-
came a soldier, and served under the duke Feria, governor
of the Milanese. Philip the Fourth of Spain employed
him in several affairs, and admitted him into his council
of war. Letters, however, occupied a good part of his
time, -and he was membqjr of the academy of the G^lati at
Bologna. He was the author of several works in Spanish
and Italian : among the latter were, i6 Discourses upon
the first book of Tacitus's Annals," which he composed at
the age of twenty-three, and dedicated to Ferdinand II.
1 Notice historique par M. le Chevalier Delambre, read at the Institute of
France, Jan. 3, 1814 ', and obligingly communicated by Dr. Kelly of Fiusbury-
Square. 2 Dupiu.— -Moreri.
**
u.
* &r*~
M A N A R A. M\
as presents to his friends ; but in poetry be reached the
highest degree of merit, and seemed to have well availed
himself of those favourable circumstances which the spirit
of the age had introduced. The abb£ Frugoni was then
ene of the most conspicuous leaders of the new poetical
band ; and having fixed his residence at Parma, he natu-
rally became, in that small metropolis, the head of a school,
in which, by exploding the' frequent antitheses, the infla-
tion of style, the wantonness of conceits, and the gigantic
strains of imagination, he introduced an easy, regular,
descriptive, vsentimental, and elegant poesy, and what was
more remarkable, gave to blank verse a strength and har-
mony till then unknown. Mr. Manara, although a pro-
fessed admirer of Frugoni and his disciples, did not choose
to be of their number as far as regarded their enthusiasm,
imagery, rapidity of thoughts, and luxury of versification.
He was conscious that his own poetical fire was like his
temper, endowed with gentleness and sensibility ; and with
this spirit wrote those elegant eclogues, which soon proved
rivals to the pastoral songs of the celebrated Pompei ; and
in the opinion of the best judges, united the flowing style
of Virgil with the graces of Anacrfcon. His sonnets, too,
though not numerous, might be put in competition with
those of Petrarch.
During his retreat also, he wrote his very excellent trans-
lation of the Bucolics of Virgil, which was thought to dis-
play taste, elocution, harmony, and such an happy sub-
stitution of the Italian for the Latin graces, as to give it
the double appearance of a faithful translation and an ori-
ginal composition. It rapidly went through several editions,
and raised the name of the author to the firtt rank among
his contemporaries in the art of poetry.
In 1749, and the thirty- fifth year of his age, Manara
was called to town by his sovereign, and the place to which
he was appointed, the first he bad filled at court, was ad-
mirably adapted to his temper. No sooner had the high-
Spirited Infant Don Philip become the pacific possessor of
that principality, than he thought of reviving the languid
progress of scientific and literary pursuits ; and instituted
that famous academy of arts, which,, except those of Rome
and Bologna, was soofi accounted the best in Italy. He
bitaself was appointed academician and counsellor, invested
with a vote; and he greatly distinguished himself, as might
be expected, in the sessions -of the society, and in the
S29 M A N A R A«
annual speeches on the solemn distribution of its premiums
The first minister of state, marquis of Felin, a man of
great discernment and sagacity, was not long in perceiving
that Manara, by his uncommon abilities, was entitled to
higher honours and employments at court. Accordingly,
in 1760 be appointed him a chamberlain of the royal house,
and soon after, superintendant of the newly-projected high
road, through that lofty branch of the Apennines which
connects the Ligurian with the Parmesan dominions ; and
from that time be was gradually promoted to more con-
spicuous and important places. He succeeded the abb6
de Condillac in the education of the young Infant (bis late
royal highness) Ferdinand, and acquitted himself of this
task to the complete satisfaction of his friends and coun-
trymen. The amiable prince himself was so duly sensible
of his services in this respect that he rewarded him with
ah extraordinary pension for life, and with the eminent
dignity of first chamberlain of his royal family.
From 1767 to 1781 his farther advancements were so
rapid, that, we can only slightly glance at them. The ce-
lebrated Theatin Paciaudi being directed to new model the
university of Parma, he established it on the same plan as
that of Turin : he invested a committee of secular clergy*
men with the power of directing all moral and religious
concerns in it, and another committee of lay noblemen,
under the name of magistracy of reform, with that of su-
perintending all its temporal and economical transactions.
Manara was appointed one of these magistrates, with the
additional prerogative of being the exclusive director of
that branch of the establishment which was called the
royal college of noblemen, and in this double capacity he
answered the most sanguine expectations. In 1771 he
was appointed counsellor of state to his royal highness,
and in 1773 was sent ambassador to the court of Turin, for
the purpose of felicitating his late Sardinian majesty on
his accession to the crown.
It reflects no small honour on him, that during these
numerous occupations in the court and in the state, from
1749 to 1773, he wrote his masterly translation of the
Georgics of his favourite Latin poet. The great success
of bis former essays on the Bucolics, inspired him with the
design of some farther similar exertions of his powers ; but
he had no sooner written the first two books, than he was
trusted with a charge utterly incompatible with his literary
M A N A R A. MS
avocations, as it deprived him of any tolerable degree of
leisure; being in 1779 appointed tutor to the infant here-
ditary prince, don Luigi, the late king of Etruria. He
was not, however, suffered to remain long in this employ*
meat, being before the expiration of three years, appointed
minister of state, to which he acceded with great reluc-
tance, and at length bis age being too much advanced to
suffer him to continue, he solicited, and obtained from bis
sovereign permission to retire. His retreat was attended
by the warmest mark of good- will from the court, by all
the honours suitable to his station, and by an additional
pension.
Soon after his retreat from the ministry, v though he had
already reached the sixty-ninth year of his age, he thought
of bestowing his now uninterrupted leisure on the transla-
tion of the other two books of the Georgics, a performance
for which, owing to his past occupations, no hopes perhaps
were entertained by the public. This task he actually
performed with so much care, attention, and zeal, that
these last two books were decidedly better translated than
the two former ; a truth of which the respectable writer
himself was so convinced, that he carefully, revised, and
almost totally altered the preceding part of his work. This
uncommon zeal, however, was attended by a fatal conse-
quence; for being determined to copy, as he did, the
whole manuscript with his own hand, he fell into a giddi-
ness which prevented him from any literary labour during
the last days of his life, and scarcely left him the power of
perusing historical books and periodical works for the sake
.of amusement.
Although Manara never wrote any large work in prose,
his letters to his friends and relatives were considered as a
model of epistolary style. He must have kept up indeed
a large correspondence with his poetical contemporaries of
Italy, as it was his custom to shew his compositions previous
to publication, to the most intelligent persons, and to
listen with docility to their respective opinions. Canonici,
Mazza, Pagnini, and many others were of the number.
To the last mentioned poet, already celebrated as the
translator of Theocritus and Anacreon, he was indebted
for some valuable hints when about to publish his transla-
tion of the Georgics. The marquis Prosper Manara died
Oct. 13, 1800. All his poetical works, with his life by
Mr. Cerati, (from which the preceding account is abridged)
12* MANBY.
were published in the following year* 1801, in 4 elegant
little volumes, by the celebrated Bodoni.1
. MANBY (Peter), a Roman catholic writer, was the son
of lieutenant-colonel Manby, and after being educated at
the university of Dublin, became chaplain to Dr. Michael
Boyle, archbishop of Dublin, and at length dean of Derry.
During the reign of James II. in 1686, being disappointed
of a bishopric, which he had hopes of obtaining by means
of the lord primate, he attempted to rise by popish interest,
and publicly embraced that religion, in vindication of
which he wrote several books. But the revolution pre-
venting the accomplishment of his wishes, he removed to
France, and thence to England, and died at London in
1697. He wrote " A Letter to a Nonconformist minister,"
Lond. 1677, 4to. 2. " A brief and practical Discourse on
Abstinence in Lent," Dublin, 1682, 4to. 3. " Of Con-
fession to a lawful Priest/' &c. Lond. 1686, 4to. 4. "The
Considerations which obliged Peter Manby, Dean of Derry,
to embrace the Catholic religion. Dedicated to the Lord
Primate of Ireland," Dublin, 1687. This was ably an-
swered by Mr. William King, afterwards archbishop of
Dublin, and by. Dr. Clagett in England. Manby replied
to Mr. King, in "A reformed Catechism in two Dialogues,"
the first only of which appeared in 1687, and was answered
Jby King.*
MANCINELLI (Antonio), an Italian grammarian, poet,
and orator, was born atVelitri, in 1452. He taught clas-
sical learning in different parts of Italy with considerable
( success. He published in 1492 a poem ^entitled " Silva
vitae suae," or an account of his own life, which Meusche-
nius reprinted, in 1735, in the first volume of his collection,
entitled " Vitae summorum dignitate et eruditione viro-
rum." He was distinguished also by some other poems,
as "de Floribus, de Figuris, de Poetica virtute." 2. " Epi-
grams," published at Venice in 1 500, in 4to. 3. Notes upon
some of the classic authors. He died some time after
1506 ; but the story of his having his hands cut off, and
his tongue cut out, by order of the pope Alexander VI.
for having made -an insolent speech to him, and which was
related by Flaccius Illyricus, appears to be without foun-
dation. 3
1 Baldwin's Literary Journal, vol. II. * Harris's, edition of Ware.
3 Moreri.— Gen. Diet.— Niceron, vol. XXXVLH.
MANDEVILE. 823
MANDEVILE (Sir John), a celebrated English tra*
veller, was born at St. A 1 ban's, in the beginning of the
fourteenth century, of a family whose ancestor is said to
have come into England with William the Conqueror*
Leland, who calls this knight Magdovillanusy affirms that
he was a proficient in theology, natural philosophy, and
physic, before he left England, in 1322, to visit foreign
countries. He returned, after having been long reputed
dead, at the end of thirty-four years, when very few
people knew him ; and went afterwards to Liege, where
it seems he passed under the name of Joannes de Barbant,
and where he died, according to Vossius, who has recorded
the inscription on his tomb, Nov. 17, 1372. His design
seems to have been to commit to writing whatever he had
read, or heard, Or knew, concerning the places which he saw,
or has mentioned in his book. Agreeably to this plan, he
has described monsters from Pliny, copied miracles from le-
gends, and related, without quotation, stories from authors
who are now ranked among writers of romances and apo-
cryphal history, so that many or most of the falsehoods in
his work properly belong to antecedent relators, but who
were certainly considered as creditable authors at the time
he wrote.
Sir John Mandevile visited Tartary about half a century
after Marco Polo, who was there in 1272. In this interval
a true or fabulous account of that country, collected by a
cordelier, one Oderic D'Udin, who set out in 1318, and
returned in 1330, was published in Italian, by Guillaume
de Salanga, in the second volume of Ramusio, and in
Latin and English by Hakluyt. It is suspected that sir
John made too much use of this traveller's papers ; and it
is certain that the compilers of the " Histoire Generate
des Voyages" did not think our English knight's book so
original, or so worthy of credit, as to give any account of
it in their excellent collection. Sir John indeed honestly
acknowledges that his book was made partly of hearsay,
and partly of his own knowledge ; and he prefaces his most
improbable relations with some such words as these, thei
seyne, or men seyn9 but I have not sene it. His book, how-
ever, was submitted to the examination of the pope's
council, and it was published after that examination, with
the approbation of the pope, as Leland thinks, of Urban V,
Leland also affirms that sir John Mandevile had the repu-
tation of being a conscientious man, and that he had
Vol. XXI. Q
526 MAK BE V ILE.
religiously declined an honourable alliance to the Sol dan of
Egypt, whose daughter he might have espoused, if he
would have abjured Christianity, It is likewise very cer*
tain that many things in his book, which were looked upon
ds fabulous for a long time, have been since verified be-*
yond all doubt. We give up his m$n of 6 fry feet high,
but his hens that bore wool are at this day very well known,
under the name of Japan and silky fowls, &c. Upon the
whole, there does not appear to be any very good reason
why sir John Mandevile should not be believed in any
thing that he relates on his own observation. He was* as
may be easily credited, an extraordinary linguist, and
wrote his book in Latin, from which he translated it into
French, and from French into English, and into Italian ;
and Vossius says that he knows it to be in Belgic and Ger-
man. The English edition has the title of " The Voiyage
and Travaile of Sir John Maundevile, knight, which treateth
4>f the. way to Hierusalem, and marvayles of-Iude," &c
Lond. 1569, 4to, reprinted in 1684, same form, and again iu
1727, 8vo« AH these are in the British Museum, together
with, copies of the French, Spanish, Latin, and Italian.
Of the last there are two editions, printed at Venice in
1537 and 1567, both in 8vo. The original English MS,
is in the Cotton library. The English editions are the
most valuable to us, as written in the very language used
by our countrymen three hqndred years ago, at a time
when the orthography of the English language was so little
fixed, that it seems to have been the fashionable affecta-
tion of writers, to shew their wit and scholarship by spelling
the same words in the greatest variety of ways imaginable.
The reader will be amused by Addison's pretended disco-
very of sir John Mandevile's MSS. and the pleasant fiction
vof" the freezing and thawing of several short speeches
which sir John made in the territories of Nova. Zembla."
This occurs in the Tatler, No. 254, the note upon which
, has principally furnished us with the above account1
MANDEVILLE (Bernard de), an author of temporary
. celebrity ia: the last century for his writings, was born
about 1670, in Holland, where be studied physic, and
took the degree of doctor in that faculty. He .afterwards
. came over into . England, and wrote several books, not
i Tatter, with Annotations, vol. IV. edit, 1806.— Vossius de Hilt, I*U«-
. Leland.— Bale.— Tanner.
MANDEVILLE. 227
Without ingenuity, but some of them were justly con-
sidered as likely to produce a bad effect upon society. In
1709 he published his " Virgin Unmasked, or A dialogue
. between an old maiden aunt and her niece, upon love,
marriage,1' &c. a piece not very likely to increase virtue
and innocence among his female readers. In 1711 came
out his " Treatise of the hypocondriac and hysteric pas-
sions, vulgarly called the hyppo in men, and the vapours
in women." This work, which is divided into three dia-
logues, may be read with amusement at least, and contains
some shrewd remarks on- the art of physic and the modern
practice of physicians and apothecaries, among whom he
probably did not enjoy much reputation. In 17 14 he pub-
lished a poem entitled " The grumbling hive, or knaves
turned honest;" on which he afterwards wrote remarks,
and enlarged the whole into bis celebrated publication,
which was printed at London in 1723, under the title of
" The Fable of the Bees, or private vices made public be-
nefits ; with an Essay on charity and charity-schools, and
a search into the nature of society.91 In the preface to
this book he observes, that since the first publication of
his poem he had met with several, who, either wilfully or
ignorantly mistaking the design, affirmed that the scope of
it was a satire upon virtue and morality, and the whole
written for the encouragement of vice. This made him
resolve, whenever it should be reprinted, some way. or
other to inform the reader of the real intent with, which
that little poem was written. In this, however, be was so
unfortunate,* that the book was presented by the grand
jury of Middlesex in July the same year, and severely
animadverted upon in " A Letter to the Right Honourable
Lord C." printed in the London Journal of July the 27th,
1723. The author wrote a vindication of his book from
the imputations cast upon it in that Letter, and in the pre-
sentment of the fgrand jury, which he published in the
" London Journal" of August the 10th, 1723. It was at-
tacked, however, by various writers, to whom Mandeville
made no reply until 1728, when he published, in another
8vo volume, a second part of " The Fable of the Bees," in
order to illustrate the scheme and design of the first. In
1720, he published " Free thoughts on Religion," built
upon the system called rational; an arrogant epithet, which
geperaUy excludes from. the province of reason a belief
in the truths of revelation. In 1732 he' published " An
q 2
-S2& MANDEVILLE.
inquiry into the origin of honour, and usefulness of
Christianity in war;" a work which abounds in paradoxi-
cal ppinions.
Mandeville died Jan. 21, 1733, in his sixty-third year.
He is said to have been patronized by the first earl of Mac-
clesfield, at whose table he was a frequent guest, and had
an unlimited licence to indulge his wit as w^Jil as his appetite.
He lived in obscure lodgings, in London, and never had
much practice as a physician. Besides the writings already
enumerated, which came spontaneously from his pen, we are
told by sir John Hawkins that he sometimes employed his
talents for hire, and in particular wrote letters in the
" London Journal" in favour of spirituous liquors, for which
he was paid. by the distillers. Sir John adds, that " he was
said to be coarse and overbearing in his manners, where
he durst be so, yet a great flatterer of some vulgar Dutch
merchants, who allowed him a pension." The principles
indeed, inculcated in some of his works, although there
are many ingenious and many just remarks in them, forbid
us to entertain any very high opinion of his morals ; and
among all his faults, we do not bear that he ever acted the
hypocrite, or was ashamed of what he had written.
The " Fable of the Bees," as we have observed, was
attacked by Several writers ; particularly by Dr. Fiddes, in
the preface to his " General treatise of morality formed
upon the principles of natural religion only," printed in
1724 ; by Mr. John Dennis, in a piece entitled «" Vice
and luxury public mischiefs," in 1724; by Mr. William
Law, in a book entitled " Remarks upon the Fable of the
Bees," in 1724; by Mr. Bluet, in his " Enquiry, whether
the general practice of virtue tends to the wealth or po-
verty, benefit or disadvantage, of a people ? In which the
pleas offered by the author of The Fable of the Bees, for
the usefulness of vice and roguery, are considered ; with
some thoughts concerning a toleration of public stews," in
1725; by Mr. Hutcheson, author of the " Inquiry into
the original of our ideas of beauty and virtue, in several
papers published at Dublin, and reprinted in the first vo-
lume of Hibernicus's Letters ;" and lastly, by Mr. Archi-
bald Campbell, in his " Apdntoyto," fif8t published by Alex-
ander Innis, D. D. in his own name, but claimed afterwards
by the true author. Mandeville's notions were likewii
animadverted upon by Berkeley, bishop of Cloy ne in ~
MANDEVILLE. 222
land, in his " Alciphron, or the Minute Philosopher/9
printed in 1732; in answer to which Mandeville published ,
the same year, " A Letter to Dion, occasioned by his
book called Alciphron.9' In this year also a pamphlet ap-
peared, entitled " Some remarks on the Minute Philoso-
pher, in a letter from a country clergyman to his friend in
London ;" the anopymous author of which, supposed to
have been John lord Harvey, interferes in the controversy
betweeu Mandeville and Berkeley with an apparent im-
partiality. It would be very unnecessary now, however,
to enter minutely into tue merits of a work no longer read.
The prevailing error in the " Fable of the Bees" appears
to us to be, that the author did not sufficiently distinguish
between what existed, and what ought to be ; that while
he could incontestibly prove " private vices" to be in some
degree " public benefits," that is, useful to the grandeur
and financial prosperity of a state, he did not distinguish
between vices properly so called, and superfluities, or ar-
ticles of luxury, which are the accompaniments, and the
useful accompaniments too, of certain ranks of life. As
to his tracing good actions to bad motives, and the general
disposition he has to dwell on the unfavourable side of
appearances in human nature and conduct, no apology can
be offered, and none can be wanted for the contempt into
which his writings have fallen.1
MANES, MANI, or MANICHMEUS, the founder of a
remarkable sect of heretics, flourished towards the conclu-
sion of the third century, and began about the year 267
to propagate bis doctrines, which he bad taken from the
books of one Scythianus. Scythianus was an Arabian,
educated upon the borders of Palestine, and extremely
well skilled in all the learning of the Greeks. Afterwards
he went to Alexandria, where he studied philosophy, and
acquainted himself also with the leaf ning of the Egyptians.
Here he espoused the opinion of Empedocles, concerning
two co-eternal principles, one good and the other bad ;
the former of which he called God and light, the latter
matter and darkness ; to which he joined many dogmas of
the Pythagorean school. These he formed into a system,
comprised in four books ; one of which was called " Evan-
gelium," another " Capita," a third " Mysteria," and a,
* Gen. Diet.— Life by Dr. Birth — Biog. Brit. Supplement, vol. VII.— Haw--
kias's Life of Johnson.— Lounger's Common-place Book, vol. II.
230 MANES.
fourth " Thesauri." After this he went to Jerusaletrt,
where he disputed with the Jews, and taught openly his
opinions. Upon the death of Scythianus, his books and
effects devolved by will to Terebinthus his disciple, who,
however, soon quitted Palestine, and fled into Persia,
where, to avoid the persecutions to which his doctrines
exposed him, he took up his abode with a certain rich
widow. Here he died, by a sudden and violent death, as
it is commonly related. When, according to his usual
way, he had ascended to the top of the house, in order to
invoke the demons of the air, which custom the Manichees
afterwards practised in their ceremonies, he was in a mo-
ment struck with a blow from heaven, which threw him
headlong down and fractured his skull. St. Epiphanius
says, that Scythianus had also met with the same fate be*
fore him. Here, however, it was that Manes became ac«
quain ted with the writings of Scythianus ; for, having a hand-
some person and a ready wit, this widow, who had bought
him, adopted him for her son, and took care to have him
instructed by the magi in the discipline and philosophy of
the Persians, in which he made so considerable a progress
that he acquired the reputation of a very subtile and learned
philosopher. When this lady died, the writings of Tere-,
binthus, to whom she had been heir, or rather of Scythianus,
from whom Terebinthus had received them, fell of CQurse
into the hands of Manes.
Manes now began to think of founding his system. He
made what use he could of the writings of Scythianus ; he
selected from the heathen philosophy whatever was for his
purpose, and he wrought it all up together with some in-
stitutes of Christianity ; which made Socrates call his he-
resy a motley mixture of Christianity and Paganism. Al-
though Manes wrote a great many pieces himself, we have
nothing remaining, except a few fragments preserved in
the writings of Epiphanius. Manes became famous all
over Persia, engaged the attention of the court, and as he
pretended to the gift of working miracles, he was called
by king Sapor to cure his son, who was dangerously ill,
This he undertook at the hazard of his life, and the under-
taking in the end proved fatal to him. This bold impostor
was no sooner called than he dismissed all the physicians
who were about the young prince; and promised the king
that he would recover him presently by the help of a fety
medicines, accompanied with his prayers : but the chiU
MANES. 231 :
4ying in his arms, the king, enraged to .the last degree, -.
caused him to be thrown into prison ; whence by the force z
of bribes he made his escape, and fled into Mesopotamia. -
There he was taken again by persons sent in quest of him, )
and carried to Sapor, who caused him to be flead alive, ^
and after that his body to be given to the dogs, and bis *
skin to be stuffed with chaff, and hung before the city
gates, where, Epiphanius tells us, it was remaining torf
his time. His death is supposed to have happened about 4
the year 2 7 8. „
Manicheism, as we have seen, is a great deal older than.;
Manes. The Gnostics, the Cordonians, the Marcionites, f
and several other sectaries, who introduced this doctrine >
into Christianity before Manes occasioned any contest: f
about it, were by no means its inventors, but found it iris
the books of the heathen philosophers. In truth, th$i
Manicheau doctrine was a system of philosophy rather thatvf
of religion. They made use of amulets, in imitation <rft
the Basilidians ; and are said to have made profession q£t
astronomy^and astrology. They denied that Jesus Christy
who was only God, assumed a true human body, and mairvr^
tained it was only imaginary ; and, therefore, they denied!)
his incarnation, death, &c. They pretended that the law->
of Moses did not come from God, or the good principle,^
but from the evil one ; and that for this reason it was abro^,
gated, They rejected almost all the sacred books, if*,
which Christians look for the sublime truths of their hojjh
religion. They affirmed that the Old Testament was not*
the work of God, but of the prince of darkness, who was*
substituted by the Jews in the place of the. true God. ThpyT
abstained entirely from eating the flesh of any anima)j<
following herein the doctrine of the ancient Pythagoreans,^
they also condemned marriage. The rest of their error*;
may be seen in St. Epiphanius and St. Augustin; which*
last, having been of their sect, may be presumed, to h^ye;
been thoroughly acquainted with them.
Though the Manichees professed to receive the books, of ^
the New Testament, yet, in effect, they only took so mqchj
of them as suited with their own opinions. They first,
formed to themselves a certain idea or scheme of Chris-
t&ruty* and to this adjusted the writings of the apostles y
pretending that whatever was inconsistent with this, badt
been foisted into the New Testament by later writers, who
were half Jews. On the other hand, they made fables and
23* MANES.
apocryphal bobks pass for apostolical writings ; and even
are Suspected to have forged several others, the better to
maintain their errors. St. Epiphanius gives a catalogue
of several pieces published by Manes, and adds extracts out
of some of them. These are the Mysteries, Chapters, Gos-
pel, and Treasury.
The rule of life andtnanners which Manes prescribed to
his followers, was most extravagantly rigorous and severe.
However, he divided his disciples into two classes; one of
which comprehended the perfect Christians, under the
name of the elect ; and the other, the imperfect and feeble,
under the title of auditors or hearers. The elect- were
obliged to a rigorous and entire abstinence from flesh, eggs,
milk, fish, wine, all intoxicating drink, wedlock, and all
amorous gratifications ; and to live in a state of the severest
penury, nourishing their emaciated bodies with bread,
herbs, pulse, and melons, and depriving themselves of &1I
the comforts that arise from the moderate indulgence of
natural passions, and also from a variety of innocent and
agreeable pursuits. The auditors were allowed to possess
-Rouses, lands, and wealth, to feed on flesh, to enter into
the bonds of conjugal tenderness ; but this liberty was
granted thdm with many limitations, and under the strictest
conditions of moderation and temperance. The general
assembly of the Manicheans was headed by a president,
who represented Jesus Christ. There was joined to him
twelve rulers or masters, who were designed to represent
the twelve apostles, and these were followed by seventy-
two bishops, the images of the seventy-two disciples of our
Lord. These bishops had presbyters or deacons under
them, and all the members of these religious orders were
chosen out of the class of the elect. Their worship
was simple and plain ; and consisted of prayers, reading
the scriptures, and hearing public discourses, at which
both the auditors and elect were allowed to be present.
They also observed the Christian appointments of baptism
of infants and the eucharist, communicating frequently in
both kinds. They kept the Lord's day, observing it as a
fast ; and they likewise kept Easter and Pentecost. \
MANETHOS was an ancient Egyptian historian, who
pretends to take all his accounts from the sacred inscrip*
tions on the pillars of Hermes Trismegistus, to whom the
i Geo. Diet.— Cave. — D'Herbelot^-Ltidner. — Motheim.
MANETHOS. 833
Egyptians ascribed tbe 6rst invention of their learning, and
all excellent arts, and from whom they derived their his-
tory. Manethos, as Eusebius tells us, translated the whole
Egyptian history into Greek, beginning from their gods,
and continuing his history down to near the time of Darius
Codomannus, whom Alexander conquered ; for in Euse*
bius's " Chronica,'9 mention is made of Manethos' s history,
ending in the sixteenth year of Artaxerxe9 Ochus, which,
says Vossius, was in the second year of the third olympiad*
Manethos, called from his country Sebennyta, was high-*
priest of Heliopolis in tbe time of Ptolemy Philadelphus,
at whose request he wrote his history, and digested it into
three tomes ; the first containing the eleven dynasties of
tbe >*ods and heroes, the second eight dynasties, tbe third
twelve, and altogether, aecording to his fabulous compu-
tation, the sum of .53,535 years. These dynasties are yet
preserved, being first epitomized by Julius African us, from
him transcribed by Eusebius, and inserted iu his " Chro-
nica ;" from Eusebius by Georgius Syncellus, out of whom
they are produced by Joseph Scaliger, and may be seen
both in his Eusebius and his " Canones Isagogici." Ma*
nethos, as appears by Eusebius, vouches this as the priti*
cipal testimony of the credibility of his history, that he
took bis relations " from some pillars in the land of Seriad,
on which they were inscribed in the sacred dialect by the
first Mercury Thotb, and after the flood were translated out
of the sacred dialect into the Greek tongue in hieroglyphic
characters, and are laid up in books among the reveries
of the Egyptian temples by Agathodemon, the second
Mercury, die father of Tat" " Certainly," says bishop
Stillingfleet, in his " Origines Sacra," " this fabulous au-
thor could not in fewer words have more manifested his
own impostures, or blasted bis own credit, than he hath
4ene in these." i
MANETTI (Giannozzo, or Janutibb), a very learned
scholar, was born at Florence, June 5, 1396, of an illus-
trious family that had fallen into decay. After a course of
philosophical, theological and mathematical studies, he
became, in the Greek language, the pupil of Camaldoli,
who then taught that lariguage at Florence, and not of
Chrysoloras, as Vossius, and Hody, if we mistake not,
have reported. Manetti then lectured on philosophy in
* Vossius Hist. Graec— StilliDgfleet't Origines Saorst , book I. o. II. §• 2.-«
Moreri.— ' Saxii Ooomast,
M4 MA N E T T I.
that city to a numerous auditory. He was afterwards em*
ployed by the state in various negociations ; and became
successively governor of Pescia, Pistoria, and Scarperia,
and commissary of the army along with Bernardetto de
Medicis. He filled also several offices in the government
of Florence, and rendered his own country many im-
portant services. When at Rome in 1452, at the corona-
tion of the emperor Frederick, pope Nicholas V. bestowed
on him the honour of knighthood. His talents and services,
however, excited the envy of some of the families of Flo-
rence, and even the favour he acquired with the princes
at whose courts he had been employed as ambassador, was
considered as a crime ; and a heavy fine being imposed on
him, he found it necessary to leave his country, and take
refuge in Rotae, where pope Nicholas V. made him one of
his secretaries, with a handsome salary, besides the per-
quisites of his place. He remained in the same office
under the succeeding popes Calixtus HI. and Pius II.
which last made him librarian of the Vatican. Manetti at
length left Rome to reside with Alphonsus, king of Naples,
who had a great esteem for him, and gave him an annuity
4>f. 900 golden crowns. He did not, however, enjoy this
-situation long,; dying Oct. 26, 1459, in his sixty- third year.
He was an excellent scholar in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew,
which at that time was little known in Italy, and employed
twenty- two years on those languages. He kept three
domestics, two of whom were Greeks, and the third a
Syrian, who knew Hebrew, and whom he ordered : always
to. speak to him in their respective languages. He was the
.author of a great many works, most of which remain in
.manuscript in the Laurentian Library. Those published
were, 1. " De dignitate et exceilentia hominis," Basle,
1532, 8vo. 2. " Vita Petrarch®." This life of Petrarch
is inserted in Tomtiiasini's " Petrarcha redivivus." 3w
" Oratio ad regem Alphonsum in nuptiis filii sui." This,
which was spoken in 1445, was printed by Marquard Freher,
in 1611, 4to, along with three other orations, addressed to
Alphonsus on the peace, to the emperor Frederic on his
coronation, and to pope Nicholas V. Other ujorks have
been attributed to him, as a " History of Pistoria," and
the lives of Dante, Boccacio, and .Nicholas V.; but we find
no particular account of them. '
> Cfraufepie,— £Iiceron, vol. XXXVI.—Tiraboschv >
M A N F R E D I. 235
MANFREDI (Eustachio), a celebrated astronomer and*
mathematician, was born at Bologna in 1674, and soon
displayed a genius above his age. He wrote ingenious
verses while he was but a child, and while very young
formed in his father's house an academy of youth of his
own age, which in time became the Academy of Sciences,
or the Institute, there. He was appointed professor of ma-
thematics at Bologna in 1693, and superintendant of the
waters there in 1704. The same year he was placed at the
head of the college of Montaho, founded at Bologna for
young men intended for the church. In 171 1 he obtained
the office of astronomer to the institute of Bologna. He
became member of the Academy of Sciences of Paris in
1726, arid of the Royal Society of London in 1729; and
died on the 15th of February 1739. His works are:
1. "Ephemerides Motuum Coelestium ab anno 1715 ad
annum 1750;" 4 vols. 4to. The first volume is an excel-
lent introduction to astronomy ; and the other three con-
tain numerous calculations. His two sisters were greatly
assisting to him in composing this work. 2. " De Transitu
Mercurii per Solem, anno 1723," Bologna, 1724, 4to.
S. "Deannuk Inerrantium Stellarum aberrationibus," Bo*
logna, 1729, in 4to; besides a number of papers in the
Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, and in other places,
which are enumerated by Fabroni. The best edition of his
Poems, which are still in repute, is that by Bodoni, in 1793,
8vo, with a life of the author. l
MANFREDI (Gabriel), brother to the preceding, was
born at Bologna, March 25, 1681, and having devoted
himself to mathematical studies acquired the reputation of
the best algebraist in Italy. At the age of twenty he com*
posed a work on the equations of the first degree, which
obtained the praises of the learned world. In. 1708, the
senate of Bologna appointed him one of their secretaries ;
and in 1720 he was made professor of mathematics in the
university of that city, of which, in 1726, he became
chancellor. He was much employed in hydrostatic* la-
bours, and with great success : nor did he shew less skill
in the science of geography. He died in 176 1. He pub-
lished " De oonstructione aequationum differentfialium pri-
ori gradus," Bonon. 1 707. This procured him a letter of
congratulation from the celebrated Leibnitz. His other
1 Fabroni Vit« Italorum, vol, V.— • Moreri.— Hutton'f Diet.
236 MANGEART.
works are principally among the memoirs of the institute of
Bologna. *
MANGEART {Thomas), called, like other Benedic-
tines, Dom Thomas, did considerable honour to his order
by the extent of his learning, which obtained him the placet
of antiquary, librarian, and counsellor to Charles duke of
Lorraine. He died in 1763, when he was preparing a
work, which was published in the course of the same year,
by the abb6 Jacquin. The title is, " Introduction i la
science des Medailles pour servir a la connoissance des
Dieux, et de la Religion, des Sciences, des Arts, et do
tout ce qui appartient a PHistoire ancienne, avec lea
preuves tir£s des Medailles,'1 folio. Mangeart is here said
to hare comprised, in a single volume, the elementary
knowledge of medals which had before been treated but
too slightly ; and the most valuable information which is
scattered through many prolix dissertations on particular
parts of the subject. Mr. Pinkerton, however, pronounces
it to be a dry compilation concerning antiquities found on
medals, in which the author shews no knowledge of the
medals themselves. It is a kind of supplement to Mont*
faucdn's antiquities, Mangeart published also, 2. Eight
sermons, with a treatise on Purgatory, at Nancy, 1739, in
2 vols. 12 mo. *
MAN GET (John-James), a learned physician and la-
borious historian of that science, was born June 19, 1652,
at Geneva, where his father was an eminent merchant. His
father's brother, author of a work 6n fevers, was physician
to the king of Poland. Manget, having finished his clas-
sical studies at the age of fourteen, bestowed two years on
philosophy, and then studied theology for five years, when,
changing his destination, he entered on a course of medi-
cal reading (for he says he had no teacher but bis books),
and made such proficiency, that in 1678, he received his
doctor's degree at Valence, along with the celebrated
Hartman. On his return home he entered upon practice,
to which he joined the laborious perusal of many medical
works, which served as the foundation of his own publi-
cations. In 1699, the elector of Brandenburgh appointed
him, by letters patent, his first physician, and the kings
of Prussia continued this title to him during his life. He
was dean of the faculty at Geneva at the time of his death,
» Fabroni, Vol. V.
* Diet. Hilt— Piokerton's Essay oa Medals, Pref. p.ix.
MAN«ET. 23T
Aug. 15, 1742, in the ninetieth year of bis age. His works
are: l."Messii,Medico-8pagyrica, &c." Geneva, 1683, folio,
which contains a most abundant collection of pharmaceu-
tical preparations, arranged in a very complex order. 2. In
the same year he edited, " Pauli Barbetti Opera omnia
Medica et Chirurgica," with additional cases and illustra-
tions. 3. " Bibliotbeca Anatoroica," 1685, two vols, folio ;
a work which was executed in conjunction with Daniel le
Clerc. He afterwards edited, 4. The " Compendium
Medicinse Practicum," of J. And. Schmitz. 5. The
" Phprmcopeia Schrodero-Hoffmanniana." 6. The "Trac-
tates de Febribus," of Franc. Pieus ; and, 7. The " Se-
phlchretum" of Bonetus, to which be added several re-
marks and histories* 8. In 1695, he published his " Bib*
liotheca Medico-Practica," four vqls- folio; a vast col-
lection of practical matter relative to all the diseases -of the
human body, arranged in alphabetical order. 9. " Bib-
liotbeca Chemica curiosa," 1702, two vols, folio. 10. Bib-
liotbeca Pharmaceutico-Medica," 1703, two vols, folio;
and, 11. n Bibliotheca Chirurgica," 1721, four vols,, in
two, folio. 19. " Theatrmn Anatomicum, cum Eustachii
Tabulis Anatomicis," 1716, two vols, folio, a description
of all the parts of the body, abridged from various authors.
On the appearance of the plague at Marseilles, he pub-
lished a collection of facts and opinions on that disease,
under the title of " Trait6 de la Peste recueilli des meil-
leurs Auteurs," 1731, two vols. 12mo; and in the follow-
ing year, 14. " Nouvelles Reflexions sur l'Origine, la
Cause, la Propagation, les Preservatifs, et la Cure de la
Peste," 12 mo. 15. His " Observations sur la Maladie qui
a coirtmencl depuis quelques amines a attaquer le gros
Betail," was a collection of the opinions of the Genevese
physicians concerning the distemper of horned cattle. The
last work of Man get was his " Bibliotheca Scriptorum Me-
dicorum veterum et recentiorum," at which he laboured
when at least eighty years of age, and published it in 1731,
in four vols, folio. It is the most important of his pro-
ductions, being an useful collection of medical lives, and
catalogues of writings. It has not been so much thought
of since the appearance of Haller's Bibliotheca, and par-
ticularly of Eloy's ; but the plans are different, and Man-
get's, as welt as the rest of his voluminous compilations,
may be yet consulted with advantage. Although he was so
. \
53$ MARGE T.
intent on accumulating information, and reprinting scarce
works and tracts, that he did not employ- his judgment al-
ways, either in selection or arrangement, yet those, who,
like himself, wish to trace the progress of medical know-
ledge, will find his works of great use. They contain, in-
deed, the substance of many libraries, and a variety of
treatises which it would not be easy to procure in. their se-
parate form. '
MANGEY (Thomas), a learned English divine, was
born at Leeds in 1684, and was educated at St. JohnVcot-
Jege, Cambridge, where be was admitted to his degree,
that of B. A. in 1 707, M. A. 1711, LL.D. 1719, and D.D.
1725. He was also a fellow of the society of antiquaries,
and rector of St. Mildred, Bread-street, London. He was
early distinguished by his " Practical Discourses upon the
, Lord's Prayer, preached before the Honourable Society of
Lincoln's Inn ; published by the special order of the Bench,"
1716, 8vo. These discourses were again printed in 1717,
and in 1721; and in 1718 he published " Remarks upon
Nazarenns; wherein the falsity of Mr. Toland'* Mahome-
tan Gospel, and his misrepresentations of. Mahometan
sentiments in respect of Christianity, are set forth; the
history of the old Nazaraeans cleared up, and the whole
conduct of the first Christians, in respect to the Jewish
laws, explained and described." The author then stiled
himself " Rector of St. Nicholas's in Guilford," to which,
be was instituted in 1717, and resigned in 1719*20. la
January 1719, he published "Plain Notions of our Lord's
Divinity," a sermon preached on Christmas«day ; in June
1719, "The eternal Existence of our Lord Jesus Christ,"
a Visitation-sermon ; iitt'October that year, " The Holiness
of Christian-churches," a sermon preached at Sunderland,
on' consecrating a new church there; aud in 1720, "The
providential Sufferings of good men," a 30th 4)f January
sermon before the House of Commons, In 1 7 1 9, Dr. Man-
gey wrote "A Defence of the Bishop of London's Letter,**
8vo; and, besides the sermons already mentioned, pub-
lished five single ones, in 1716, 1726, 1729, 1731, and
1733. On May 11, 1721, he was presented to a prebend,
the fifth stall in the cathedral church of Durham, being at
that time chaplain to Dr. Robinson bishop of London, and
vicar of Yealing, or Ealing, in the county of Middlesex*
*
1 Life by himself in his Bibl. Script. Med.— Moreri. — Efoy Diet de Medicine,
r
MANGEY, i 239
He was advanced to the first stall of Durham, Dec. 22,
1722; and, when treasurer of the chapter, greatly ad*
vanced the fines upon the tenants, and improved the rents
of his prebendal lands nearly a hundred pounds a year*
He was one of the seven doctors in divinity created July 6,
172$, when Dr. fientley delivered the famous oration pre-,
fixed to his Terence ^ and at the end of 1726 he circulated
proposals for an edition of " Philo Judseus," which he com-
pleted in 1742, under the title of " Philonis Judsei Opera
omnia quae reperiri potuerunt," 2 vols, folio. He died
March 6, 1755, and was interred in the cathedr&l of Dur-
ham, where is an elegant Latin inscription to his memory,
composed by Dr. Sharp, then a prebendary and archdeacon
of Northumberland. His manuscript remarks on the New
Testament came into the possession of Mr. Bowyer, who
extracted from them many short notes, which are printed
in his " Conjectures." A very elegant inscription to Dr.
Mangey by Dr. Taylor is prefixed to " Lysiae Fragmenta."
Dr. Mangey married Dorothy, daughter of archbishop
Sharp, by whom he had one son, John, vicar of Dunmow
in Essex, and a prebendary of St. Paul's. He died in 1782.
Mrs. Mangey, widow of the doctor, died in 17 SO. l
MANI, See MANES.
MAN1LIUS (Marcus), was a Latin poet, who lay bu-
ried in the German libraries, and never was beard of in
the modern world, till Poggius published him from some,
old manuscripts found there about two centuries ago. He
is mentioned by no ancient writer, and the moderns are so
little able to fix the time when he lived, that while some
place him as high as the age of Augustus, others bring,
him dowh to the reign of Theodo.;us the Great. Indeed,
the only account to be had of him must be drawn from his
poem ; and from this, his translator Creech thinks that he
was born a Roman, and lived in Rome, when Rome was
in her glory, as he says appears from several passages ia
the poem. In the beginning of it he invokes the emperor;
who from the description must be Augustus Caesar. Creech
•likewise infers that he was of illustrious extraction, and a
branch of that noble family the Manilii, who so often filled
the consul's chair, and supplied the greatest offices in the
commonwealth. Some, indeed, have thought that he was
1 Nichols's Bowyer, —Manning's Surrey, vol. I. — Hutchinson7* Durham,
tol. XL p. 173.
«0 MANItlUB.
a Tyrian slave,- and that being made free, he took, ac-
eording to custom, the name of his patron. But this seems
very improbable ; and he almost, says Creech, expressly
declares the contrary in the fortieth verse of his fourth
book, where he shews a concern for the interest of the Ro*
man commonwealth, as far back as the age of Hannibal :
" Speratum Hannibalem nostris cecidbse catenis :
fiannibal then destined to our chains :"
Which he could not have done with propriety, had bis re*
lation to that state commenced so lately, or had his ances-
tors had no interest in the losses and victories of Rome in
that age. But this verse, as well as the 776th line of the
tame book, Bentley proves to be spurious, and overthrows
the whole of Creech's conjectures. It may, however, still
be allowed that he was conversant at court, and acquainted
with the modish Battery of the palace, and that he made
his compliments in the same phrase that w?ls used by the
most finished courtiers of his time, which renders it not
improbable that he was of a good family.
The " Astronomicon" of Maniljus contains a system of
the ancient astronomy and astrology, together with the
philosophy of the Stoics. It consists of five books, and he
also wrote a sixth, which has not been recovered. That
he was young when he composed this work, his translator
thinks demonstrable from almost every page of it ; and had
he lived to revise the whole composition, as he seems
to have done the first book, we should perhaps have
had a more correct performance. He had a genius equal
to his undertaking; his fancy was bold and daring; his
skill in mathematics great enough for his design ; and bis
knowledge of the history and mythology of* the ancients
general. As he is now, some critics have placed him
among the judicious and elegant writers ; and all allow him
to be useful, instructive, and entertaining. He hints at
some opinions, in which later ages have been ready t9
glory as their own discoveries. Thus he defends fcbe
fluidity of the heavens against the hypothesis of Aristotle;
he asserts that the fixed stars are not all in the same conr
cave superficies of the heavens, and equally distant from
the centre of the world : he maintains, that they are aU of
the same nature and substance with the sun, and that each
of them hath a particular vortex of its own ; and lastly, he
says that the milky way is only the undistinguished lustre
M A N I L I U 8. 241
off a great many stnall stars, which the modems now see to
be such, through their telescopes. So that perhaps, upon
the whole, ana notwithstanding all bis defects, one may
▼emtdfe to say that he is one of the most discerning philo-
sophers antiquity can shew. The first edition of Manilius,
with ar date, is that of Bologna, by Rugerius arid Bertho-
cns> 1474. The best editions since, are thfet of Joseph
ScaJiger, printed at Leyden, 1 600, 4to ; that of Bentley,
at London, 1738, 4to ; that of Edmund Burton, esq. "cum
nods Variorum," London, 1783, 8vo; and that of Stceber,
publish*! ait Sttftftburg, in 1767, 8vo.1
MAN LEY (De la Riviere), an English lady, authoress
of ai rioted piece of scandal called " The Atalantis," was
born in Guernsey, or one of those small islands, of which
her father, sir Roger Manley, was governor. He was the
secortd sttfl of an ancient family, and had been a great suf-
ferer for his loyalty in the reign of Charles I. without re*
ccrttirig either preferment or recompense in that of Charles
II. Re waii a man of considerable literary talents, which
appeared in several publications, particularly his Latin
cotm&efttariee ori the rebellion, under the title of " Com-
m«ntafte de Rebellione Anglicana, abanno 1640 ad annum
16^85^ Lond: 1086, 8v6, and of which an English trans-
lation wiff published in 1691 ; and his " History of the late
wars of Dtenmark," 1670. He is also said to have been
the author Of thesfirst volume of the " Turkish Spy," which
Waa found Among his papers, ancl continued to its present
n timber of voltimes by Dr. Midgley, a physician, who had
thr Cafe Of his papers ; but this has been justly doubted
(See MaRA^A). fits daughter, the subject of this article,
jrWfeived ah education suitable to her birth, and gave indi-
cations of genius above her years, arid, as her biographer
sAyft, #r rhUth superior to What is usually to be found
amongst bfer sex/9 The loss of her parents before she
wto settled in life, stems' to have been peculiarly unfortu-
nate, far her father confided the care of her to his nephew,
a iflfcrried rriafc, who first pretended that his wife was dead,
then by a series of seductive manoeuvres cheated her into
»' marriage. When he could no longer conceal his infamy,
be deserted her, and the world turned its back upon her.
in this situation, she accidentally acquired thfefpa-
* Greectt'* Pfrefiute ta hi* Tfeufcfetton, bat especially Beotiey>s |Mfftee,.
SazQ Onomaftt— Huttoa'* Dictionary.
Vol. XXL &
Ui MANLEY.
tronage of the duchess of Cleveland! one of Charles ILV*
mistresses, having been introduced to her by an acquaint-
ance to whom she was paying a visit ; but the duchess, a •
woman of a very fickle temper, grew tired of Mrs. Manley
in six months, and discharged her upon, a pretence that •
she intrigued with hef son. When this lady was thus dis-
missed, she was solicited by general Tidcomb to pass
some time with him at his country-seat'; but she excused
herself by saying, " that her love of solitude was improved
by her disgust of the world ; and since it was impossible
for her to be in public with reputation, she was resolved
to remain concealed." In this solitude she wrote her first
tragedy, called " The Royal Mischief," which was acted
at the theatre in Lincoln's-inn-fields, in 1696. This play
succeeded, and she received such unbounded incense from
admirers, that her apartment was crowded with men. of wit
and gaiety,, which proved in the end very fatal to, her
virtue, and she afterwards engaged in various intrigues.
In her retired hours she wrote h§r four volumes of the
" Memoirs of the New Atalantis," in whic^ she was y**ry
free with her own sex, in her wanton description of love-
adventures, and with the characters of many high and dis-
tinguished personages. Her father had always b^en at-
tached to the cause of Charles I. and she herself having a
confirmed aversion to the Whig ministry, took this method
of satirising those who had brought about the revolution. .
Upon this a warrant was granted from the secretary of state's* .
office, to seize the printer and publisher of those volumes*
Mrs. Manley had too much generosity to let innocent per*
sons suffer on her account ; and therefor^ voluntarily pre-
sented herself before the court of King's4)encb, as. the
author of the " Atalantis." When she was examined be-
fore lord Sunderland, then the secretary, he was curious
to know from whom she got information of some particulars
which they imagined to be above her own intelligence.
She p}eaded that her only design in writing was her own »
amusement and diversion in the country, without intending
particular reflections and characters; and assured them ~
that nobody was concerned with her. When this was not
believed, and the contrary urged against her by several
circumstances, she said, " then it must be hy inspiration,
becaiise, knowing her own innocence, she could account
for it no 6ther way." The secretary replied, that " inspi-
ration used to be upon a good account ; but that her writings:
M A N L E T. r 24S
were stark naught," . 8he acknowledged, that u his lord-
ship's observation might be true $ but, as there were evil
apgefs as well as good, that what she had wrote ipight still
be by inspiration.9' . The consequence of this examination
was, that Mrs. Manley was close shut up hi a messenger's
house, without being allowed pen, ink, and paper. Her
counsel, however, sued out her habeas' corpus at the
- King's-bench bar, and she was admitted to bail. Whether
those in power were ashamed to bring a woman to a trial '
for this book, or whether the laws could not reach her,
because she had disguised her satire under romantic names, •
and a feigned jgene of action, she. was discharged, after
several tiipes exposing herself in person, to oppose the -
court before the bench of judges, with her three attend-*
ants, the printer, and two publishers. Not long after, a
total change of the ministry ensued, when she lived in high
reputation* and gaiety, and amused herself in writing poems
and letters, and conversing with wits. To her dramatic
pieces she now added " Lucius," the first Christian king
of Britain, a tragedy, acted in Drury-lane, in 1717. She
dedicated it to sir Richard Steele, whom she had abused
in her " New Atalantis," but was now upon such friendly
terms. with. him, that he wrote the prologue to this play,
as Mr. Prior did the epilogue. This was followed by her
comedy called the " Lost Lover, or the Jealous Husband,"
acted. in 1696. She wasfelso employed in writing for queen
Anne's ministry, certainly with the consent and privity, if
not under the direction, of Dr. Swift,- and was the author
of " The Vindication of the Duke of Marlborough/' and
other pamphfets, some of which would not disgrace the best
pen then engaged in. the defence of government. After
dean Swift relinqqished " The Examiner," she continued
it with great spirit for a considerable time, and frequently
finished pieces begun by that excellent writer, who also
oftetj used to furnish her with bints for those of her own
composition* At this season she formed a connection with
Mr. John Barber, alderman of London, with whom she
lived in a state of concubinage, as is supposed, aifd at whose
hoqse she died July 1 1, 1724.
. The superior accomplishments of her sex in our days
must now place her yery low in the scale of female authors;
and she seems to have owed her fame in a great measure
ta-hfer turn .for intrigue and for recording intrigues. This
will probably be the opinion of those whp will take the
R2
244 MA II LEY.
trouble to peruse any. of the works Already mentioned, 6f
the following : 1. "Letters, one from a supposed n mi in
Portugal/' Lond. 1696, 8vo. 2. " Memoirs of Europe
towards the close of the eighth century/' 1710, 2 vols.
8vo. 3. " Court Intrigues/' 17 U, fcvo, 4. "Adven-
tures of Rivelle," 1714, 8vo. 5. "The Power of Love,
in seven novels," 1120, 8vo. 6. " A Stage-coach Journey
to Exeter," 1725, 8v* 7. " Bath Intrigues," 1725, 8 vo.
7. " Secret History of Queen Zarah," 1745, 8vo. The
two last, from the dates, must be postburitous, or second
editions.1
MANNERS (John),- marquis of Gmnby, was son of
John duke of Rutland, and grandson of John the first duke,
and was born in January 1721. He wad bred to the army,
and in the rebellion of 1745 raised a regiment of foot at
his own expence, for the defence of the country agfeinsf
the rebels. In 1755 he was advanced Co the ifenk of rtiajor-'
general, and in 1758 was appointed lieutenant-general and
colonel of the bines; With this fank he went into Ger-
many with the British forces, which were sent to serve
under prince Ferdinand of Brunswick; and in 1759 was
promoted to the general command of the British troop*,
an appointment which gave much satisfaction, arid for
which he appears to have been well qualified. If he had
not the great abilities requisite to a commander in chief,
he had all the qualifications for an admirable second irt com-
mand. With a competent share of military skill, he pbfr*'
sessed that pereonal valour and ardour in the service, Which
inspired his soldiers with confidence; and that htiitoane*
and generous attention to their comfort and welfare* joined
with affability and open-hearted cheerfulness, which
strongly attached them to his person. In 1760 be justified
the high opinion which prince Ferdinand had etrpresaed of
him after the battle of Minden, by his gbdd conduct at'
Warburg, where the British cavalry Were particularly sig-
nalized. In the beginning of the ensttthy caifepfcigri} be
commanded under the hereditary prince, in his attack on
the frontier towns of Hesse ; and at the battle of Kirk-
Denkern, bore the first and most violent onset of the ene-
my, and by the firmness of his troops contributed much to
that vietory .« He maintained the same character at Graebc-
» Cibbei^s Lires of tfae Poeti— NoU* to Taller sad Sasidias, edit lSOeW
NfchoU'i Poems, vol. VII.
M A N N E ft 3. 245
»
iteein and Homburgb, in 1763. tie died at Scarborough,
Qftu 19, 1770. He had been made a member of the privy-
council in 17*0, qpd resigning the office of lieutenant-
general of the ordnance, was in May 1763" constituted
ma»t*r«genarel of that department. In Feb. 1764, be was
• declared lord-lieutenant and custos totulorura of Derby-
shire. In 1766 he was constituted commander iji chief of
bis majesty's land forces in Great Britain ; which he re*
signed a little before bis death. He married Sept. 3,
1750, lady Frances Seymour, eldest daughter of Charles
4ukeof Somerset, by whom, among other issue, he had
Cbarlet, the late duke of Rutland, who died lord«-lieute-
aant of Ireland* in 17*7; and lord Robert Manners, a gal-
lant officer of the navy, who died Jan. £3, 17&2, of the
wounds be received in an engagement, Sept. 1, 1781,
in the West Indies, - on board tys majesty's ship the
Resolution, of which he was captain, A monument in ho-
jfconr of his memory was ordered at the national expence
for him, capt Blair, and capt Bayne, which ia now in St.
Paul's cathedral.1
M ANNI (Dominic Mama), an eminent Italian writer,
was born at Florence, April 8, 1690. He was early dis-
tinguished by great powers of retention, and a strong
% passion for research into facts, two attributes for which he
was celebrated during the whole of his life. He was regu-
larly instituted in every class of literature, but his par-
ticular bias was to history, in which be began his career
by inquiries into the modern history of his native city.
Tins produced in 1722 his " Series of Florentine Sena-
tors,'9 2 vols. fol. a work which, under the modest garb of
-a collection of notices on private individuals, exhibited the
naost original, authentic, and curious information respect-
' ing the public law and government of Tuscany, from the
extinction of the line of the marquises, to the creation of
the gftand dukes in 1332. In 1731 he published a work of
yet greater interest, " De Florentinis inventis Commen-
tarium," in which he gave the most satisfactory account
of the manufactures which either originated or were im-
proved in Florence ; he showed how the art of banking
was there, first invented ; how, in the subsequent times,
.the art of engraving also originated there, fcc. Among
the discoveries made at Florence in the middle ages, there.
* CwJi^ffi ?•«*&, by Sir B. Brydgrs.— Sjnollett'* IJist. of England.
24« K A N N I.
. was one so highly beneficial as to demand a methodical
disquisition for itself alone ; this was the invention of spec-
tacles, which in 1738 Manni illustrated by his " Historical
Treatise on Spectacles." In this, after a careful exami*
nation of evidence, be is inclined to attribute the invention
to ftalvino Armati.
In 1742 he published " Historical Illustrations of the
Decamerone of Boccaccio,1' 4to, in which he proves that
the greatest part of Boccaccio's tales were real facts, which
occurred in his life. A work of this kind could nor fail to
-be amusing, nor in that country, instructing ; and indeed
this has been thought one of the best of Manni's publica-
tions. His more elaborate work, connected with the hist*
tory of Florence and Tuscany, is his " Historical Obser-
vations on the Seals of the lower age." " Osservazioni
istoriche sopra isigilli antichi de' secoli bassi," published *
in 1749, and originally consisting of 18 vols. 4to, but after-
. wards extended to thirty. It exhibits the most valuable
records of all the illustrious persons who acted a conspicu-
ous part in the vicissitudes of Florence and other great
cities of Tuscany. It also elucidates the origin and pro-
gress of all the mints of those cities. In 1755 he published
his " Method of studying the History of Florence," which
is an account of all the authorities and sources of Floren J #
tine history, both printed and manuscript, in whioh he
affirms that the best limited .history of Florence is that yet
unpublished of the .chevalier Francis Settimanni, who wrote
on jthe period which intervened between the accession of
th& house of Medici, in 1532, and its extinction,. in E737.
The only other works he published respecting Florence
and its antiquities, were, his " Historical notices con-
cerning the amphitheatre at Florence," published in 1746;
and his " Inquiries into the ancient Thermae of Florence,"
published hi 1751.
Of the historical works of Manni relative to other places,
and more general subjects, we shall only mention his
" History of the Jubilees," published in I75<\in which
be did justice to his subject in a philosophical and political
light, by shewing who were the most distinguished persons
who had ever visited Rome on those occasions, and how
far, on thei( return to their native countries, they grafted
on those countries the manner* and practices of Italy. He
also illustrated every particular by curious anecdotes, .
medals, fa c- similes, Ice. In biography, Manni wrote a
M A N N I. 247
¥ • * *
singular work, but perhaps of local interest, entitled " Le
Veglie Piacevoli," &c. or " Agreeable Evenings," being
the lives of the roost jocose and eccentric Tuscans. This
was published in 1757, in 4 vols. 4 to., He wrote also tbe
" Life of the well-deserving prelate, Nicholas Steno, of
Denmark," published in 1775. Manni's publications, not
of the historical or biographical kind, were few, and none
of them added much toxhis fame, except his " Lectures on
Italian Eloquence," 1758, 2 vols. 4to.
- He died at Florence, Nov. 30, 1788, in his ninety-ninth
year. He left behind him the fame not only of one of the-
most laborious and deserving writers of his time, but of a
most exemplary moral character. He was particularly dis-
tinguished for his zeal and kindness in assisting with his
superior knowledge, younger writers who wished, to treat
on any subject connected with his inquiries. A catalogue
of all his works, amounting to 104, was published in 1789,
by his friend count Tomitaho, a patrician of Feltri.1
MANNING (Owen), an excellent antiquary and topo-
grapher, the son of Mr. Owen Manning, of Orlingbury,
co. Northampton, was born there Aug. 11, 1721. He was
* admitted of Queen's-college, Cambridge, where he pro-
ceeded B. A. in 1740; and about this time met with two
extraordinary instances of preservation from untimely death.
Having been seized with the small pox, be was attended
by Dr. Heberden, who thinking he could not survive, de-
sired that his father might be sent for. On his arrival he
found the young man to all appearance dying, and next
day he was supposed to have expired, and was laid out,
as a corpse, in the usual manner. An undertaker was sent
for, and every preparation made for his funeral. His
father, however, who had not left the house, could not
help frequently viewing the seemingly lifeless body ; and'
in one of his visits, without seeing any cause for hope,
said, " 1 will give my poor boy another chance," and at
the same time raised him up, which almost immediately
produced signs of life. Dr. Heberden was then sent for,
and by the use of proper means, the young man recovered.
As it was customary for the scholars of every college to
make verses on the death of any one of their own college,
which are pinned to the pall at the funeral, like so many
escutcheons, this tribute or respect was prepared for Mr.
1 Atbeiitttiinj ▼•!. IV.— Diet. Hi»t
tit
24* MANNING.
Maiming, who was muchbelovedbybis fellow students; anclit
is said that the verses were presented to hifn,aftejpiprds»aqd
that he kept them for many years as memoranda ,<*f hi?
youthful friendships. Scarcely bad be met with this nar-
row escape, when, his disorder having made him fors0me
time subject to epileptic fits, he was seized with one of
these while walking by the rivet, intojwhich befell, AOfI
remained so long that be was thought to .fye drowned, an£
laid out on the grass, until lie could be conveyed to the
college, where Dr. Heberden being again called in, the
.proper means of recovery weife used with success.
In 1741 he was elected to a fellowship of hit college, in
right of which he had the living of St. Botolph, in Cam*
bridge, which he held until his marriage, in 1755. He
took the degree of M. A* in 1744, and that of B. D. in
1753. In 1760, Dr. Thomas, bishop of Lincoln, to. whom
he was chaplain, gave him the prebend of Milton Ecclesia,
in the church of Lincoln, consisting of the impropriation
and advowson of the parish of Milton, co. Oxford. In
1763 he was presented by Dr. Greene, dean of Salisbury,
to the vicarage of Godalming, in Surrey, and was insti-
tuted Dec. 22, he preferring the situation to that of St.
Nicholas in Guildford (though a better lhftng) which w*s
offered to him by jthe same patron. Here he constantly
resided till the time of his de^tb, beloved and jre^pected
by his parishioners, and discharging his professional duty
in the most punctual and conscientious manner. In 1769
he was presented to the rectory of Pe,pperharrc^v, an ad-
joining parish, by viscount Middleton. He was elected
F. R. S. in 1767, and F. S.A. in 1770. To the sincexe
regret of his parishioners, and of all who knew him, Mr.
Manning died Sept. 9, 1801, after a short attack of pleu-
risy, having entered his eighty-first year. By Catherine,
his wife, daughter of Mr. Reade Peacock, a quaker, met-
cer, of Huntingdon, he had tl^ree sons and five daughters,
all of whom survived him, except his eldest son, -George
Owen, and one of the daughters.
To the literary world Mr. Manning performed a most
;acceptable service in taking up, and by unwearied appli-
cation completing! the Saxon Dictionary begun by his
friend the rev. Edward Lye (see Lye), a work which for
copiousness and authorities will stand the test of the strictest
examination. Mr. Lye had the patronage of a very band-
some subscription, and left that, and the completion of bis
VANNING a&
work, to his friend $**• Maaaing, iwhwe/jfeliti^ he well
knew. After four yqgjrs ,?f close application, be printed it
jo 177$f .in 2 vc*s. folio, in an elegant maimer, at tbepovs
.Of ,tb* Jate Mr. ,Mlen, of Bolt-foui*, Fle*t-#r*et« Be-
mid^s.tbe 4W%ce jand the grammar, he wad* large Addi-
tions to tUe sbepts before composed, and io ao ajppendi**
^subjoined Augments «f UpbiWs version pf the jEpiatlqs
.to the sRppn^s j sundry §axon+Cjbarter# ; 4 Sermon j*n
4i*ti- Christ; * fragment of the $***n Chronicle, and
father instruments. Mr. Manning also published illustra-
tions of tkiog Alfred'* Will. His only other publications
were two occasional Sermons.
From his fir^t settlement in Purvey, ,be had employed him-
self in collecting materials for a history and antiquities of
.that opopty ; aadby the rapport of men of the 'first talents,
possessed himself of a mass of information whioh fells to
the lot of few ^persons engaged in jftch pursuits. His com-
prehensive mind and exquisite penmanship had brought
jhem to a perfection which justly made every lover of our
national antiquities deeply regret that his modesty ,couid
paver be persuaded to think 4bepi sufficiently complete for
publication, although he had more than once printed spe-
cimens of his intended work, and solicited assistance. At
length, a total loss of sight rendered it impossible for him
to execute his intention ; but Jaia previous labours we*e not
doomed to perish. His papers being confided to the care
of William Bray, esq. the present worthy treasurer of the
society of antiquaries, he produced the first .volume of
" The HUtpry and Antiquities erf Surrey," in 1804, a large
and aplepdid folio, which he has since completed in two
-.more volumes. Of the whole, it may be sufficient to say,
upon no slight examination of this elaborate and valuable
addition to the topographical history of our country, that
Mr. Bray has in every jreapect removed -the regret which
he and, other* ielt op Mr. Manning's being disabled front
completing his nwn undertaking.1
MANNOZZI (JoHN),(cailed Giovanni da san Giovanni,
tfrpik a village near Florence, where be was born, was a
^lfthflsced painter of the Florentine school, where he shone
Jbya natural superiority of genius. He perfectly under-
#lOPd jthe poetical part of his art, and excelled, therefore,
• Life of Mr. Manning prefixed to vol. I. of the History of Surrey. —Nichols*!
$9wyer, vol. IX,— Coles MS Athens, ia Brit. Mus,
250 II AN NO Z Z I.
m
in the ingenuity of those designs by which he at once of«
namented the' palace, and illastrated the beneficence and
taste of Lorenzo de Medicis. He was particularly suc-
cessful in painting in fiasco, and his colours remain unin-
jured to the present day : m the imitation fctf bas-relief be
•was so. skilful, that the touch only could distinguish his
paintings t>f that kind from sculpture. He had profound
skill also in ^perspective end optics. With all thelfe excel-
lencies in his art, he was capricious, envious, and male-
volent, and consequently raised himself enemies who were
not a little inveterate. He died aft the age of forty-six, in
1636.1 . * • * "
MANNYNO. See ROBERT DE 3RUNNE.
MANSARD (Francis), a very celebrated French archi- '
, tect, was born in 1598, and died in 1660. The magni-
wficent edifices raised by him at Paris and elsewhere, are so
many monuments of his genius arid skill *in his art. His
ideas of general design were esteemed noble, and his taste
in ornamenting the 'inferior parts delicate. The principal
buildings of which he was the author, are the gate of the
church of the Feu i Hans, in the street St. Honor6 ; the
• church' of les filles St. Marie, in the street of S. Antoine;
the gate of the Minims in the Place Royale ; a part of the
Hdtel de Conti ; the H6tels de Bouillon, Toulouse, and
Jars; besides several buildings in the provinces, whteh were
formed on his designs. Much as he was approved by the
public, he was not ' equally able to satisfy himself. CoK
bert having inspected his plans for th$ facades of the
Louvre, was so pleased with them, that he wished to en-
gage him in a promise not to make any subsequent altera-
tions. Mansard refused to undertake the work on those
conditions,, being determined, *s he said, to preserve the
right of doing better than he bad undertaken to do. . Hfe
nephew, Jules- Hardouin Mansard, had the office of fifst
architect, and conductor of the royal buildings, and was
the designer also of many very celebrated structures.*
MANfH (John Dominique), a very learned Italian pre*
late, and voluminous editor, was born at Lucca, Feb* 1 6,
1 692. At school and college he made rapid progress in
evqpy branch of study, but became particularly attached
to ecclesiastical history and biogsapby. He was for some
t
. * Pilkington, by Fuiel!» when a somewhat different character if gifcn.—
Moreri.— Diet. Hist.
? Arfenville.^-Perrault Lei Hommei IUustres.*— Diet Hist.
#-
' *
to A N 8 I. > ' 25t
»
years professor of theology at Naples ; but the greater part
of bis life w*s spent in reading, and carefully exploring
the contents of the Italian libraries, particularly the manu-
scripts, frtat all which lie amassed a fundvef information
en subjects connected with ecclesiastical, history, of vast
extent and importance. Hie first station in the church was
that of a clerk- regular in the; congregation of the Mother
of God; and from tfcis, in t765,~ at the age. of seventy-two,
he wap promoted to the archbishopric of Lucca, by pope
Clement X1H. who had a high esteem for him. He died
Sepfc j279 1*69. Hia life, in our authority, it little more
than an account of his works, which, indeed must hare oc-
cupied the whole of his time. His 6rst publication was
» entitled "Tractatus* de casibu% et. excommtuitcationibua
-episcopis reserved?, eonfeetus aa nofmam tabeHs»i»ucanst,"
Lucca, 1724, He then published a translation into Lath*
ef Calmetfs " Dictionary of the Bible,'* with additions ; an
edition of Thomasini " De^veteri et nova ecclet is* disc*
plina," 3 vols, folio; a Latin translation <|f Calrtiet's "Com-
mentaries on the Bible," 17*31, &c.,7 vols, i an edition of
Baron ius's annals, with great additions, in 30 vols, folio ;
a new edition of the Councila, including Labbe, Cossart,
&c. 1759, &c. 30 vols, folio; a new edition of uEneas Syl-
vius (pope Pius II.) orations, with many hitherta unpub-
lished, 1755, 2 Vols. 4to. He was the editor of some other
ecclesiastical collections and theological pieces of inferior
.note; but we must not omit the. work by which he is per-
haps best known in this country, his excellent edition of
Fabrjcius's "Bibliotheca Latina mediae et infinite aetatis}11
6 vols. 4to, generally bound in three, printed at Padua, in
1754. This alone is sufficient to place him in the first
tank of literary antiquaries^.
MANSTEIN (Christqpher Herman de), a celebrated
Russian officer and wrtfer, was born et Petersburgh in
1711. He was first a lieutenant in the Prussian service,
-and afterwards a captain of genadiers in the Russian regi-
ment of Petersburgh. At die death of the czarina Anne,
he was employed to arrest the fiirons, who were then the
regents and the tyrants of the young prince I wan III. whft
Rewarded his services by the rank of colonel, and sone
estates im Ingria. But when the throne of that prince was
Seized by the czarina Elizabeth, Manstein lost at once his
1 £«broni Vita hatorm. .
002 MAWSTEIN.
mgwutiit ftnd bis lands. Sane tupe after, ha entered again
into the Prussian senace, where be acted as a volunteer in
1 745 ; and baring sufficiently signalized his abilities and
courage, was appointed major-general *rt infantry in 1754.
In the war of 1766, he fell the very eecond year by a shot ;
leaving ,two .sons and four daughter*. Hi* '* Memoirs of
Russia," printed at Lyons in 1772, in 2 vols. 8vo, ace at
once historical, political, and military. They contain the
priqcipaL revolutions of that empire, and the wars, pi the
Russians against the Turks and. Tartars ; besides a short
sketch of we military and marine establishments, and also
of the commence of. bis country. These memoirs com-
iBoence in 1727, with the reign of Peter II. and close with
the first year of the empress Elizabeth. They are consi-
dered as deserving of much reliance from the truth of the
facts, and the sincerity of the author.1
. MANTEGNA (Ajtdrea), an eminent Italian painter,
-was bom in 143 1, at Padua or in its district. His parents
•were poor, but Squarcione, whose pupil he became, was
•so deeply stnjck with his talents, that be adopted him for
;his son, and repented of it when Andrea married a daugh~
ter of Jacopo Bellini, his eompetitor. But the censure
which now took place of the praise he bad before lavished
on jbis pupil, only added to bis improvement. Certain
basso-relievos of the ancient Greek style, possessed by the
academy in which Andrea studied, captivated his taste by
-the correctness of their outline, the simplicity of the forms,
the parallelism of <the attitudes, and strictness of the dra-
'flery .: .the dry servility with which he .copied these* suf-
fered him not to pqrtetve-that he had lost the great preixn
•garive of die originals, the soul that animates them. The
sarcasms of Squarcione on his picture of S. Jacopo, made
ihim seusible of the necessity of expression and character ;
the gave more life- to the figures in the story of S. Cristo-
phoro ; and in the face of St. Marc, in the church of S.
Giusttna, united the attention of a philosopher .with the
enthusiasm of a prophet. While the criticisms of Square
cione improved Mantegna in expression, the friendly ad-
Vice of the Bellini directed his method, and -fixed bis prin-
ciples of oqIout. During his short stay at Venice, he made
himself master of every advantage of that school; and ki
some of his pictures there are tones and tints in flesh and
i Diet Hist.
MANTE6 N A. 25?
laridscape, of a richiie** and zest equal to'thd best Vene-
tians of his day. Wbetber he taught Bellini perspective is
uncertain ; Lomazzo affirms * that Mantegna was the first -
who opened the eyes of artists in that branch."
The chief abode and the school of Mantegna were at
Mantua, where under the auspices of Marchess Lodovico
Gonzaga, he established himself with his family, but be
continued to work in other places, and particularly at Ropae,
where the chapel which he had painted for Innocenzio
VIII. in the. Vatican existed, though injured by age, at
the accession of Pius VI. The style of those frescoes
proved that he continued steady in his attachment to the
antique, but that from a copyist he was become an imitator.
Of his wor^s in oil Mantua possesses several; but the prin-
cipal one, the master-piece of the artist, and the assem-
blage of his powers, the picture 4ella Vittoria, afterwards
in the Oratorio de Padri di S. Filippo, is now at Paris. It
is a votive picture dedicated, for a victory obtained, to die
Madonna seated on her throne with the infant standing on
her lap, and giving benediction to the kneeling marquis in
arms before her. At one side of the throne stands the
archangel Michael, holding the mantle of the Madonna; at
the other are S. George, S. Maurice, John the Baptist,
and S. Elizabeth on her knees. The socle of the throne is
ornamented with figures relitive to the fall of Adam-: the
scene is a leafy bower peopled by birds, and here and
there open to a lucid sky. No known work of Mantegna
equals in design the style of this picture : they generally
shew him dry and emaciated, here he appears in all the
beaaty of select forms : the two infants and St. Elizabeth
are figures of dignity, so the archangel who seems to have
been, by the conceit of his attitude and the care bestowed
on him, the painter's favourite object. The head has thjt
beauty and the blootn of youth, the round fleshy neck and
tbte breast, to where it confines with the armour, are treated
with great art, the expression is to a high degree spirited,
and as characteristic. The countenance of the Madonna is
mild and benign, that of Christ humane. The future pro-
phet is announced in the uplifted area of St. John. The
guardian angel kindly contemplates the suppliant, who
prays with devout simplicity: The whole has art air of life.
-All the draperies, especially that of St. Elizabeth, are
elegant, and correctly folded; with more mass and less
intersection of surfaces, they would be perfect* Tba
»
X
«4^ MANTEGNA.
extreme finish of execution, as it has net here tfcat dryness '
which disfigures most other works of this master, does not
impair the brilliancy of colour. The head of the Ma- "
donna, of the infant, of St Michael, have a genial bloom
of tints* The lights are everywhere true, the shades alone
are sometimes too grey or too impure. The general scale
of light has more serenity than splendour, more the air<>f
nature than of art, but the reflexes are often cut off too
glaringly from the opaque parts. The whole of the picture
has preserved its tone to this day, is little damaged, and
in no place retouched.
Of the remainder of Mautegna's works, besides some
frescoes of considerable merit, but much injured, in a sa- >
loon of the castle of Mantua, and the well known triumph
of Caesar in various compartments at Hampton court, little
now remains. His name is more frequent in galleries and
collections, than his hand ; lanknesp of form, rectilinear
folds, yellow landscape, and qpinute polished pebbles, are
less genuine signs of originals than correctness of design .
and delicacy of pencil* It is not probable that a man so
occupied by large works, and so much engraving, should
have had time to finish many cabinet-pictures : the series .
of his plates consist of upwards of fifty pieces, executed
by his own hand ; tod though he was not the inventdr of
the art, he was certainly the first engraver of bis time.
Andrea had great influence on the style of his age, nor
was the imitation of bis style confined to his own school ;
Frantesco, and another of bis sons, finished some, of the
frescoes which he had begun in the castle, and added the
beautiful ceiling which shews that. the science of fore*
shortening, and what the Italians call " del sotto in su,"
though Melozio be its reputed author,, was carried much
farther by MantegM and his followers. Mantegna died in
1505. Besides his talents for painting, Mantegna was one
of the earliest engravers on metal, some, indeed, say the
very first, but this does not appear to have been the case.
Strutt, who gives a list of his principal engravings, has .
also exhibited a specimen in his Dictionary.1
^M ANTON (Thomas), one of the .most learned and emi-
nent nonconformists of the seventeenth century, was bora
at Lawrence Lydiard, ift Somersetshire, in 1620. Hia
*
i By Puseli in tbe last edition of Pilkington. Mr* P. has bestowed more thaa
usual pains on this article.— See also ^ullait's Acadeaieties Sciences.— Roscoe'fc '
Lsjcaso and Leo.— Strutt. *
MANTQN. 355
father and grandfather were both clergymen, byt of them
we have no account, except that his father was settled at
Whimpole in Devonshire, and sent has sou. to th£ free*
school at Tiverton: . Here his progress was such that; he
wa? thought qualified to begin his academical studies a(
the age of fourteen, and about a year after, in 1635, he
was entered of Wadham college, Oxford. From thence,
in 1639, he removed to Hart-hall, where he took his
bachelor's degree in arts. Wood says, he was accounted
in his college, " a hot-beaded person,"— a character very •
remote fronj .that which he sustained throughout .life,- apd
when all eyes, were upon bioi. After studying divinity, be
was admitted to deacon's orders by the celebrated Dr. Hall,
bishop of Exeter, and although this. wa% sooner than Mr.
Man ton approved upon maturer thought, bishop Hall ap-
pears to. have thought him duly qualified, and predicted
that " he would prove an extraordinary person.91 As he
Came into public life when principles of disaffection to the
church were generally prevalent, it appears that he en-
tered so far into the spirit of the times, as to be content
with deacon's orders, and to deny the necessity of those
of the priest -
His ministerial functions were exercised in various
places* first at Sowton near Exeter, and then at Colyton
ill Devonshire, where he. was much respected. Removing,
to London, he became more admired for his talents in the
pulpit, and about 1643 was presented to the living of Stoke
Newington, by colonel Popham, and here preached those
lectures on the. epistles of St. James and St. Jude, which be
afterwards published in 1651 and 1662, 4to. During his
residence at Newington, he often pieachad in London,
a,nd is said to have preached the second sermon before .the
sons of the clergy, an institution then set on foot, chiefly
through the influence o£ Dr. Hall, son to the bishop, who
pleached the first. He was also, one of, those who were,
called occasionally to preach before the parliament, but
being a decided enemy to the m$rd£r of the king, he gave
great ofienot by a sermon in which he touched on that
subject. In 1651 he shewed equal contempt for the ty-
*ai\ny of the. usurpers, by preaching a funeral sermon for
Mr. Love (see Christopher Lose), and in neither case
allowed the fears of his friends to prevent what be thought
bis duty. . ,
.«* M ANT ON.
In 1656 Ke removed frdm Stoke-Newington> oif beings
presented to the living of Covent garden by the earl, after-
wards duke of Bedford, wbo bad a high respect for bin*.
At this church he bed a numerous auditory. Arafcbtsbop
Usher, who was one of his hearers, used to say that he
was one of the best preachers in England, and had the grt
of reducing the substance of whole volumes into a narrbtr
oonipass, and representing it to great' advantage. Although
He bad already, by the two sermons above noticed, shewn
that he was far from courting the favours of government,
Cromwell, wbo well knew how to avail himself of religions
influence ahd popular talents, sent for him in 1953, when
he assumed the protectorate j and desired- him tb pray at
Whitehall on the morning of bis installation ; and aboot
the same time made hkti one of bis chaplains* He was
dominated also by parliament one of a committee of divines
to draw tip a scheme of fundamental doctrines. In the
same year he was1 appointed one' of tbe committee for the*'
trial and approbation of ministers, and appears to have
acted in this troublesome office with considerable' modera-
tion. What influence he had with Cromwell, he employed
for the benefit of others, and particularly solicited him to
spare the life of Dr. Hewit, a loyalist, whom Cromwtell
executed for being concerned in a plot to restore^Cbariefc II.
In 1 660, when the days of usurpation were over, Mr. Maim
, fon co-operated openly in the restoration of Charles, was
one of tbe ministers appointed to wait upon bis majesty af
' Breda, and was afterwards sworn dad of his majesty's chap*
lains. In tbev same year he wasj by mandamus^ ' created*
doctor of divinity at Oxford.
He was then one of the ministers who waited upoti the?
king after his arrival, to beg his majesty's interposition for"
reconciling the differences in the church ; and afterwards
joined several of bis brethren, in~a conference with the'
episcopal clergy, at the lord chancellor's bouse ; prepara-
tory to the declaration of his majesty, vrbo waft likewise
present. Being satisfied with this declaration, Dr. Matiton
continued in his living of Covent-gardeny and received
episcopal institution from Dn Sheldon, bishop of London,
Jan. 16, 1 66 1, after having first subscribed tbe doctrinal
articles aniyt>f the church of England, arid taken the oaths
of allegiance and supremacy, and of canonical obedience
in all Slings lawful and honest. He also allowed that tbe
common-prayer should be read in his church. Soon after.
M A N T 0 N. **7
be w*$ &tf#ted the deanery pf Rochester, which be "might
have held until 1662, and enriched himself by letting
leases * but, either dissatisfied with the advances he bad
Already made towards conformity, or foreseeing that greater
would soon be expected, be honourably refused to enrioh
hi&aelf by accepting a dignity, the very existence of which
be and bis brethren were prepared to oppose. In 1 66 i he
was one of the commissioners at the* Savoy conference,
and continued preaching until St. Bartholomew's day in
J6GJ2, when he was obliged to resign bis livings After
this he preached occasionally, either in private or public*
a* be found it convenient, particularly during the indul-
gence granted to the nonconformists from 1668 to .1670;
but was imprisoned for continuing the practice when it be-
came illegal. From this time bis history is too generally
involved with that of his brethren to admit of being sepa-
rated. He preserved, amidst all. vicissitudes* the friends-
ship of the duke of Bedford, the duke of Richmond, lord
.Wharton, and many other persons of rank. * To this they
were probably induced by a congeniality of principle; but
independent of this* Dr. Manton was a man of great learn-
ing and extensive reading, and his conversation aa much
recommended him to men of the world, as to those who
admired his pious services. Waller, the poet, said " that
he never discoursed with such a man as Dr. Manton in alt
bis life." He was also a person of extraordinary charity,
and supplicated the assistance of his great friends more for
the poor than for himself, being perfectly disinterested.
Wood has misrepresented his character in all these respects.
His constitution, although a man of great temperance,
early gave way \ and his complaints terminating in a
lethargy, he died Oct. 18, 1677, in the fifty-seventh year
of his age. He was buried in the chancel of the church at
Stoke Newington, where his intimate friend Dr. Bates
prea'ehed his funeral sermon, which includes a. very copious
character of him.
He published in his lifetime only some occasional ser-
mons, and the Commentaries on St Jude and St. James,
already mentioned, except a controversial work, entitled
" Smectymnuus Redivivus, being an answer to a book enr
titled An humble remonstrance." After his death, va-
rious treatises and collections of sermons were printed se-
parately, all of which, if we are not mistaken, were aft^r-
Vou XXI. S
25* M A N T O N.
wards incorporated in an edition of his " Works" in five
large volumes, 1681—1691, Folio.1
MANTUAN (Baptist), an Italian poet of great tem-
porary fame, was born at Mantua, whence he took his
name, in 1448, and not in 1444, as Cardan and others
have said ; for Mantuan himself relates, in a short account
#f bis own life, that he was born under the pontificate of
Nicholas V. and Nicholas was only made pope in March
1447. He was of the illustrious family of the Spagnoli,
being a natural son of Peter Spagnolo, as we learn from
Paul Jovius, who was his countryman, and thirty-three
years old when Mantuan died, and therefore must have
known the fact. Mantuan too speaks frequently and highly,
in his works, of his father Peter Spagnolo, to whom he
ascribes the care of his education. In his youth, he ap-
plied himself ardently to books, and began early with Latin
poetry, which he cultivated all his life ; for it does not ap-
pear.that he wrote any thing in Italian. He entered him-
self, we do hot know exactly when, among the Carmelites,
and came at length to be general of his order ; which dig-
nity, upon some disgust or other, he quitted in 1515, and
devoted himself entirely to the pursuit of the belles-lettres.
He did not enjoy his retirement long, for he died in March
1516; upwards of eighty years of age. The duke of Man-
tua, some years after, erected to his memory a marble
statue crowned with laurel, and placed it next to that of
Virgil ;. and even Erasmus went so far as to say that a
time would come, when Baptist Mantuan would not be
placed much below his illustrious countryman. In this
opinion few critics will now join. If he had possessed the
talents of Virgil, he had not his taste, and knew not how
to regulate them. Yet allowance -is to be made, when we
consider that, in the age in which he lived, good taste had
not. yet emerged. Lilius Gyraldns, in his " Dialogues
upon the poets of his own times," says, "that the verses
which Mantuan wrote in his youth are very well ; but that*
his imagination afterwards growing colder, his latter pro-
. ductions have uot the force or vigour of his earlier.'* *Vt5
may add, that Mantuan was more solicitous about the
number than the goodness of his poems ; yet, considering
that be lived when letters were but just reviving, it must
be owned, that he was a very extraordinary person.
1 Memoirs of Dr. Manton by Win. Harris, 1725, 8vo. — Calamy. — NeaVsPu-
ritaflft.-— Ath. Ox. vol. U. — Wilson's Hist, of Dissenting churches and mettiags*
M A N T U A N. /• 2S9
t
His poetical works were first printed, in a folio volume
without a date, consisting of his eclogues, written chiefly in:
bis youth ; seven pieces in honour of the virgins inscribed on
the kalendar, beginning with the virgin Mary; .these he calls
"Parthenissal." "ParthenissaII."&c; four books of Silv®
or poems on different subjects ; elegies, epistles, and, in
shorty poems of every description. This was followed by
an edition at Bologna, 1502, folio, and by another at Paris
in 1513, with the commentaries of Murrho, Brant, and
Ascensius, 3 vols. fol. but usually bound in one. A more
complete, but now more rare, edition of them was pub-
lished at. Antwerp, 1576, in four vols. 8vo, under this
title, " J.. Baptists Mantuani, Carmelits, theologi, philo-
sophi, po£t8B, & oratoris clarissimi, opera omnia, pluribus
libris aucta & restituta." The Commentaries of the Paris
edition are omitted in this; but the editors have added, it
does not appear on what account, the name of John, to
Baptist Man tuan.'
MANUTIUS (Aldus), the elder of three justly cele-
braj^d printers, was born about 1447, at Bassiano, a small
town in the ,duchy of Sermonetta. He was educated at
Rome, under Gaspar of Verona and Domitius Calderinus,
hpthof whom he has mentioned in several of his prefaces,
aaip?n of talents and erudition. Having acquired a know-
1^4g? ofthe Latin language from them, he went to Ferrara
to study Greek under Baptist Guarini, and, probably
after his own studies were completed, became the pre-
ceptor of the prince of Carpi, a nephew of the .celebrated
Picus of Mirandula. In 1482, Ferrara being closely be-
sieged by a Venetian army, he retired to Mirandula, and
spent some time in the society of Picus, who, though not
quite twenty years of age, was already a consummate
master of almost $11 learning. From Mirandula, Aldus
went, some time after, to reside with his pupil, who*
though, only twelve years of age, had made such advances
in learning, that he was already qualified to take a part in
the serious conversations, and the designs of his uncle and
hjs preceptor; and it is believed to have been, at this time,
that^ 4'dos conceived the project of bis subsequent printing
establishment at Venice, to the expences of which, Piod$
and his pupil probably contributed. He began, however,
to print, '^t Venice, in 1488, with an edition of the small
l Niceron, xoh XXVII— (Slinguene Hirt. J, it, D'ltalie.— Rwcoe'i Lco.#
S 2
MO MAN U T I V &
Greek poem of Mtistfus, in quarto, with a Latin transla-
tion, but without date. In 1 494 be published the Greek
grammar of Lascaris, and in 14*95, in one collection, the
gracftmatical treatises of Theodore Gaza, Apollonius, and
Herodian.
He had already begun to prepare for the press the ma-
nuscripts of the then unprinted originals of the works of
Ari6tofle, which, in number and extent, were sufficient to
fill five volumes in folio. Although the state of these MSB.
required almost incredible efforts of diligence and erudition,
Aldus brought out a first volume in 1495, and the edition
was completed in 1498. Aldus was from that time con-
fessed, without dispute, to stand as an editor in the very
first rank among his contemporaries. He was not, how*
ever, the very first that printed an entire Greek book.
The Greek grammar of Lascaris had been printed in folio,
at Milan, in 1476. The works of Homer were printed at
Florence in i 488 ; and several other Greek works hkd also
appeared in print, when Aldus began his establishment j
yet he must be allowed the praise of having first used ele-
gant Greek types, and printed from thfc most corrfect' and
authentic manuscripts*
In imitation, it is said, of the hand-writing of the cele*
brated Petrarch, Aldus procured the first examples of thtft
which is called, in printing, the Italic character, to be cut
and cast for him by Francesco of Bologna, about 150O.
An edition of the works of Virgil, in octavo, was the first
book he printed in this type, which was long known among
printers by the name of Aldine. The inventor obtained
a patent from the Senate of Venice, for its exclusive use
for ten years, from the 13th of November, 1502; and
another similar patent from pope Alexander the Sixth,
from the 17th of November, 1502. The last of these was
renewed for fifteen years more, by Julius the Second, on
the 27th of January, 1513; and again by Leo the Tenth,
on the 28th of the following November.
From 1 502, the different works printed by Aldus, were
reprinted at Lyons, with a close imitation of the Aldine
type and edition. The very prefaces of Aldus and his as-
sistants, were copied in the editions of Lyons. But the
imitation was disgraced by many typographical errors.
'Aldus, observing and noting these, publishe^Mfethe 16th
of March, 1503, a list in which they were particularly
enumerated, arid which he appears to have distributed to
M&R.U-JT.IHA 281
the purchasers of copies of bis own genuine editions, Thte
canning tnd industrious Lyonne§e took this list of their
erroirs, corrected them in new editions of the same books ;
and thus still divided the market with Aldus, and uow
Wore successfully than at the first. .
In 151)1, 1502, 1503, 1504, and 1505, Aldus printed ia
folio, of in octavo, a considerable number of the best au*
thors^ Greek, Roman, and Italian* such ,as Demosthenes*
Lucian, Dante, Horace, Petrarch, Cicero's epistles to bis
familiar friends, Juvenal, Lucan, Homer* Sophqples, £u«
ripjdps, &c. &c. He published, at the least, a, Volume
every mon.th. Theae publications were in all respects m*
celleitf. .Tbjey.wer^af wo*k$ the most valuable in aJLl lite-
ratyre* anpienjt or. modem. The composition of. the types
WPtijnely regular and .uniform; .the pres£»werk was admire
abljf; executed ; and the ink sQ truly good, that it retains
to this day all its beauty. and lustre of cqIquc . ,
Iq the necessary pains upon these work^ Aldus bad the
assistance of some of the best and most learned among his
contemporaries. His house became a sort of new academy.
The learned in Venice began, about J 500, to. assemble
there pn 6xed days of frequent recurrence, for conyersa*
lion on interesting literary, topics : and their meetings were
continued for several years subsequent. The topics on
which they conversed were, usually, what books were
fittest to be printed, what manuscripts might be consulted
with the greatest advantage, what readings, out of a diver-
sity, for any one passage, ought to be preferred. Among
those who attended these -conversations, were, besides
Aldus himself, the famous A. Navagerus, P. Bembo the
celebrated cardinal, Erasmus, when he was at Venice,
P. Alcionius, M. Musurus, Marc-Ant. Cocch. Sabellicus,
Albertus Pius, prince of Carpi, and others, whose names,
though they were then eminent, are not now equally in
remembrance,/ Among those who assisted Aldus in the
correction of the press, were men not less eminent than
Demetrius Cbalcondylas, Aleander, afterwards famous as
a cardinal, and even Erasmus.
There are some curious circumstances in the history of
the acquaintance and connexion between Erasmus and
Aldus, : The " Adagia" of Polydore Vergil bad been
printed at* Venice, and well received in the world. Eras-
jftus, aware of ■, this fact, wrote from Bologna, to request
that Aldus would undertake the printing of his " Adagia."
1
362 M A N U T I U S.
i
Aldus readily agreed to tbe proposal, and invited Erasmus
upon it to Venice. When Erasmus came, it was not till
after some delay that be obtained admittance to tbe print-
er's closet, whose servants were not aware of the stranger's
literary consequence. But Aldus no sooner knew that it
was Erasmus who waited for him, than be hastened to re-
ceive his visitor with open arms. He did more: he stop-
ped the progress of several important Greek and Latin
works, which he had then in the press, to make room for
the printing of the great collection of Erasmus with the
desired expedition. Erasmus was, in the meaft time, en-
tertained in the house of Andrew d' A sola, father-in-law to
Aldus, with whom Aldus and his wife appear, by Erasmus**
account, to have lived. D1 Asola was rich ; yet his table
was, even for that of an Italian family, parsimoniously
served : and Erasmus loved good cheer. The Dutchman
made frequent remonstrances to bis friend Aldus, against
tbe thinness of the soups, the absence of solid animal food,
the weakness and sourness of the wine, the general scanti-
ness of the whole provisions. ♦ The Italians* whose, climate
and natural habits had taught them to KveJ much nffiore
sparingly than was usual for the Dut£h and (iertnadk; 'wete
astonished and offended by bis complaints. Stone sittall
additions, such as a fowl or two, and. perhaps half a dozen
eggs a week, were made on his account to the commons of
the family. But these dainties were sometimes intercepted
by the women in the kitchen, on their way to tbe table.
On the table, they were devoured by tbe rest who sat at it
still more eagerly than by Erasmus. And if he was not
absolutely starved, he was assuredly a good deal mortified
in his appetite for a glass of good wine and a mess of deli-
cate and savoury meat, before he could see the printing
of his " Adagia" entirely at an end. His humours and
complaints made him at length a very unpleasant inmate
to the family ; while he was, on the other hand, dissatis-
fied still more, that his murmurs were not more complai-
santly, attended to. They parted with mutual dislike.
Erasmus wrote afterwards his dialogue, which has the title
of " Opulentia Sordida," in ridicule of the parsimonious
spirit, and the scantily-served table of Andrea D'Asola.
Aldus and bis successors, whenever they, after this time,
reprinted any work by Erasmus, avoided to mention his
name, and gave him tiimply tbe appellation of " Transal-
pine quidam homo.''
M AN U T I U S. 263
Aldus, not thinking that he did enough for the interests
of literature, in printing, for the first time, so many ex-
cellent books in. the Latin, Greek, and Italian languages,
gave, in his. Latin grammar, in 1501, a short introduction
to the knowledge of the Hebrew tongue ; and even propo**
sed to give a beautiful edition of the original Hebrew of
the sacred Scriptures, with the Septuagint and the Vulgate
Latin versions. Of this, however, be was diverted from
printing more than a specimen sheet. That sheet, now in
the royal library at Paris, exhibits the text in the three
different languages, each occupying one of three parallel
. columns on the same page. It is to be regretted that
Aldus should have been hindered from completing a design
so noble.
In 1500, Aldus, married the daughter of the above-men-
tioned Andrew of Asola, who had been a printer of some
reputation at Venice, and who soon after became his son-
in-law's partner. The "Letters of Pliny," 1508, is the
first book which marks this partnership, " in eedibus Aldi
et Andre© Asulani soceri." In 1 506 Aldus was a great
sufferer by the war which then raged in Italy, and his
printing was so much interrupted, that he was not able to
resume it until 1512. From that to 1515, he executed
several works, and was proceeding with others when he
died, nearly seventy years of age, in the last-mentioned
year.
The character of Aldus as a printer is so well known to
every scholar, and to such only it can be interesting, that
it is unnecessary to enlarge upon it here. But he may be
considered also as an original benefactor to the literature
of the age. He published a Latin grammar of his own
composition; and in 1515, after his death, was published
by bis friend Marcus Musurus, a Greek grammar, which
Aldus had compiled with great research and industry. He
wrote likewise a treatise " de metris Horatianis," which is
reprinted in Dr. Combe's edition of that poet. He pro*
duced a Greek dictionary, printed by himself, in folio,
1497, and reprinted by Francis D' Asola in 1524. He was
likewise the author of many of the Latin translations of the
classics, wrote many letters, some of which have been
published, and for some years after be settled at Venice,
gave a course of lectures on the best Greek and Roman
authors, which was attended by a great number of students.
Aldus, however, has not escaped the censures of criticism.
•M M A K U T I U fc
Urceus Godru4> the learned professor of Bologna, Mm-
plained, that be suffered many errofs to escape imtof-
reoted, in bis editions of the Greek authors ; that be s©14
bis copies too dear ; and printed them with an useless and
unsuitable width of margin. Later critics have ndt beetl
sparing of remarks somewhat similar. Ernesti, in bis notM
on the Letters of pliny, blames Aldus for excessive bold-
cess of conjectural criticism. In the preface to his Taoittte*
the same critic remarks, that Aldus rarely made on the
second and subsequent editions of the works he printed,
any alterations but such as consisted in negleeted errors
of the press. It is indeed true, that the editions of Greek
works printed by Aldus, are not always so correct *s his
Latin and Italian editions. But their defects are owing
to the disadvantages of Aldus's situation,, much rather than
to negligence, or inability in himself, as a printer and a
man of letters. He had not always a sufficient dumber of
manuscripts to collate : and sonietjmea he could not bate
the benefit of the judgment of a sufficient number of the
learned upon the difficulties which occurred to him. After
beginning to print any particular work* he often had not
leisure to pause for a sufficient length of time* over the
difficulties occurring in the progress of the edition. He
might, in some instances, also, print a manuscript which
he did not approve, lest it should otherwise have btiee lost
to posterity. l
MANtJTIUS (Paul), the son of the preceding, was
born at Venice in 1 512. After his father's death, he lived
with bis mother and her other children at Asqla, at some
distance from Venice, while the business of the printing
esabjishment at Venice was carried on, for the general
benefit of the family* by his grandfather, Andrea D* Asolrf,
and the Torresaiii, his maternal uncles. At A so la Paul
fftad$ but small progress in letters ; he was, however, re-
moved when very young to Vehioe, where be bad every
advantage of instruction and encouragement to study;
Bembo, Sadolet, BonarrUcus, Reginald Pole, and espe-
cially Rambertus and Gasp. Contarinus, who had been
bis father's friends, todk a pleasure to excite and direct
him in his literary pursuits* Under their tuition he ap-
plied to his studies wich such zeal and assiduity as even to
i Renouard's " Annates de I'lmprimem des Aides ou Hittoire des trois Ma-
nuce," 1803, 2 vols. 8vo, translated and abridged in the Month. Mag.
M AN U T I U S, 26*
injure his health, bat he suffered more from the depute*
that took place respecting tbe partition of the estates of
bis father and hie maternal grandfather, between himself
And the other heirs. His uncles *ad himself could net
agree in the management of the printing«bou8e, and in
l§29 it was shot up; but in 1533, hating arrived at the
age of twenty-one, he again opened it, and renewed tbe
business in tbd names, mod for the common benefit, of the
heirs of Aldus, and Andrea D'Asola. In 1540, however,
fthie partnership was dissolved ; and from tbis period, the
business was continued in tbe name! of the sons of Aldus
only.
Paul became now indefatigable in tbe management of
the printing establishment; and as tbe most valuable re-*
Bains of Grecian literature were already in print, deter-
mined to give new editions of the best Latin authors. As
bis admiration had been principally directed to the style
.and eloquence of Cicero,, the first work be printed was that
author's Weitises on Oratory, which appeared from bis press
in 1533, and the same year he published Cicero's Familiar
Letters. He printed also at this time the fifth Decade of
Livy, 11 Cortegiano, by Castiglione, II Petrarca, and Pon*
tani Carmioa, torn* I. la the following year the number
of Italiaii and Latin books which he published was very
considerable, His first Greek publication Was Themistius*
wbicb was speedily followed by Isocrates and Aetius Ami*
denug. In these publications he availed himself of the
literary assistance of various learned friends, whose atten-
tion and corrections gave that decided superiority to the
Akrtne editions which his father bad endeavoured to esta-
blish.
In 1535 he accepted at* invitation to Rome, upon the
promise of an opolent and eligible situation; but, not being
received with vespett or attention, he returned to Venice,
.and resumed his studies and employment. Having, howv
ever, attained no degree of opulence, ho engaged in the
business of education, took twelve young men of family
into his hoose, *nd superintended their education for three
years. Of these, two were Mattb. Senarega, who trans**
lated Cicero's Letters to Atticus into Italian, and Paul
Coutarinu*. 'trr l£fe8 he went on an excursion to erfajmne
the Hfiann#crif)ts m certain old 'libraries, particularly tbe
library of the Franoiscaos in Cfesena," which contained
some M8S. left to their convent by Malbtesta Novellas ;
866 M A N U T I U S.
and such was bis reputation at this time, that he was in-
cited to fill the chair of the professor of eloquence at
Venice, and had the offer of a similar situation at Padua,
vacant by the death of fionamicus. But his ill health, and
bis predilection for his business, induced him to devote his
whole time to the printing-house,; from wtrick & great num-
ber of the classics issued.
After; a second journey to Rome, in 1546, he married
Margarita, the daughter of Jerome Odonys. His* eldest
son, Aldus, the subject of our next article, was the first-
fruit of this marriage : he had also twb other sons, who died
young, and a daughter, who is often mentioned in his let*
ten* and was married in* 1573.. In 1556 an acadtnsy was
established at Veuice, , in the house of Frederick Badoarns,
one of the principal senators: of the republic, . which was
composed of about an hundred members, who endeavoured
to unite every species of literary and, scientific excellence.
Belonging to this afcademy was a printing-.bouse, in which
it w*s . proposed to print good editions , of all books and
nttkieacfipts already known to exist, as well as the original
Stings of the academicians. Over, this establishment,
Paul was appointed to preside, and, it was completely fur-
nished with, new founts of his own *yp£s, and he had under
him several other skilful printers, particularly Dominick
Jftevilacqua. In 1558 and 1559, fifteen different books
were printed in this hopse, none very large, but intended
as a prelude to greater undertakings, of which a catalogue
was published both in Italian and Latin, and may be seen
ip tttnouard's " Annates de rimprimerie des Aides,"
vol. I. , The books printed in this academy were all exe-
cuted with admirable correctness and beauty, and are be*
rcome exceeding scarce, and valuable* Paul was farther
honoured with: the professorship of eloquence in this aca-
demy, which, however, did not exist long. It was pro*
hably thought to have been an engine in Badoarus's hands,
bji which he might have become dangerous to the state j
or perhaps its expences might exceed his resources, and
drive him to pecuniary shifts of the discreditable kind. In
: August 1562, however, the academy was dissolved by a
public decree.
In 1561 Paul had been invited by Pius IV. upon terms
of great honour and ath^ntage, to repair to Rome, and
engage in printing the Hply Scriptures and the works of
the father* of the churchy He accordingly undertook this
MANUTIUS. 267
journey, of which his holiness bore the expences, as weH
as of the removal of bis printing-materials and of his family ;
and conditioned to allow him, from the time of his arrival,
a yearly salary of at least 500 crowns.- From this time,
till the death of Pius, be continued to exercise bis. profes-
sion as a printer -with griat .reputation at Rome, while he
also kept open his printmg*house at Venice. But at
length dissatisfied with his situation, and in ill health,, he
•left ifloihe in September 1570, and after visiting several
distinguished places in Italy^ returned to Venice in May
1572. From Venice, after a very short stay, he went
back again to Rome, where he was cheered <by the season-
able liberality of the pope, Which was made more agree-
able by being bestowed without any exaction *>f personal
labour or attendance. '• ■.;-.;.•::.
■r Much of his life appears to have been embittered by
sickness, and in September 1573 his health began to. de-
cline very rapidly. Three months after, he thought. him-
self better, but he had still an extreme weakness! in his
•loins, < with frequent and; severe head-ach£s, 'tad -he. re-
'deifeedftb' benefit frorti medicines. On the 6th. ofrApril,
1574, he expired in the arms of his son, who, had just ar-
rived from Venice to (attend him: in . his sickness, \ He.* had
lived in general 4steem;> and his death was universally, re-
gretted. He left a variety of writings, . which distinguish
him as one of the most judicious critics, and' one of the
most elegaut Latin writers that/ modern > times i have pro-
duced. Of these, the principal are his. letters in Latin
and Italian, his Commentaries on the works of his favourite
•Cicero, and his treatise " De Curia Romana." . The pro*
ductiens of *his presses are all of the highest value, for both
acquracy and beauty.1 . m.:. ... ». ,
. MANUTIUS (Aldus), the younger, son of the pre-
ceding,^ was born m 1547. His father paid the utmost
attention to bis ^education ; and so extraordinary was the
progress of the youth in learning, that he Was enabled to
give the world " A collection of elegant * phrases in the
Tuscan and Latin language*;" when .he was only eleven
years of age. Other juvenile works at, different periods
marked his advances in classical literature, and he soon
became his father's assistant in. bis labours. When very
young, he conducted the printing-business at Venice while
•**>•.
1 Renouard, fcc.
ft*S MANUTI.UA
father was engaged at Rome. In » 1 572 he married *
,ledy of the Giunti family, so well known ia (he annuls of
.typography; and oa the death of his father in 1574, all the
eMCeree of the Aldine prats devolved upon hifia. He waa,
however, less calculated for the business. of a (printer than
for the profession of an author. In 1$7T he was appointed
professor of the belies lettres in the school of the Venetian
chancery, in which young men designed for public em-
ploy ments. were educated. This Office be held till 1 585,
when he was made professor of rhetoric at Bologna.. In
the. same year lie published the. " .Life rf Cpam* dc Ma-
-dici/' whkb wtas.sowell received* that he! was [almost int*-
mediately invited to undertake the professorship <rf .polite
Ikeratujre. at Piaey which he accepted, aitbeftgh he received
an invitation at the same time to a professorship at Rome*
Which bad been lately held; by Muratus* During his stay
-el Pisa he jr*oeived the degree of doctor of laws, and was
admitted a. member of the Florentine academy, on which
eeoasion he delivered an eloquent oration " On the nature
of Petetiy." He now paid a visit to Lucca in order to ob-
tain materials for * " History of Castruccio Castraoani,"
-which he afterwards published* and which is much ap-
plauded by Thuanus. The Roman; professorship: being
reserved for him, he removed thither in 1*588, and <iatead«»
ing to spend bis life there, he caused hia whojt library to
be brought to Rome from Venice, at a very greet expenoe.
He was in high favour with Sixtus V. who gave him an
apartment in the Vatican, and a table, at the public- est*
pence. He was also patronized in various. ways by Cle*
snent VIII. He difed' in the fifty-firstyear of his age, in
October, 1667/. He left no posterity, and with him ended
the glory of the A 1 dine press. His1 library » consisting of
80,000 volumes, collected by himself and bis predecessors,
was sold to pay his debts,. He . was author of many per-
formances besides those already mentioned, but the moat
celebrated of his works were his " Commentaries on all
the Works of Cicero/' in ten volumes/ His "Familiar
Letters/' published in 1592, were highly esteemed ; but
M« Itenouard confesses, that were it not from fats inheriting
the Aldine offices, it might not have been remembered be
bad ever been a printer ; yet, though difference of taste
gave hia studies a different bent, his numerous writings,
notwithstanding they were inferior to bis father's and grand-
father's, sufficiently prove his industry and learning, and
MA PES. *e»
jtistify, to a certain point, the eommefidatkms besttfwed eh
htm by ma»y to wham bistfcerit* were known. * ' ' )
MAPES (Walter), mt pfcet of some celebrity fbrkltf
time* which was that - of • Heeiry II. of England, whose
chaplain he was about 1190. After the death of that
mouarch he held the same odice under prince John, and
kred familiarly with him. He was then made a canon of
Salisbury, afterwards precentor of Lincoln, and in the
eighth year of Richard I. archdeacon of Oxford. He wrote
in Latin; and some of hi* verses, which are in a light and
satirical style; are still extant. There is in the Bodleian a
work of his under the assumed name of Valerius, entitled
" Valerias ad Jlufinum de oott ducenda uxore," with a
large glpssj He perhaps adopted this name because one
Vjderias had written * treatise on the same subject in St.
Jerom't works. Wartofi thinks it probfeble that he trans-
lated from Latin into French the popular romance of Saint
Gnaal, at the instance of Henry II. He was* also cele-
brated fpr his wit and facetiousness in conversation. When
M heard a natural son of Hetiry II. swear by his father9*
royalty, be told him to remember also hid mother's honesty.
Be wrote a *' Compendium Topograph!^ and " Epi-
tome Cambria* ;*' and is* thought to hare written a " De-
scriptio Norfolciffi," which, says Mr. Gough, if we could
find it, would be a rateable curiosity. Mapes was often
confounded with a contemporary poet, Golias, of a similar
genius ; and some have supposed that Golias was a name
- assumed by Mapes. But according to Warton's informa-
tion^ they were different persons. *
MAPHAEUS. SeeVEGIUS.
. MAPLET (John), a physician and scholar, was the son
of * father of both his names, whom Wood calls M a suf-
Aciertf: shoemaker," and was born in 1616 in St. Martin's*
ie-graad-, London, and educated' at Westminster-school.
He wjis thence elected a student of Christ Church, Ox-
ford, in 1630, wbete he took his degrees in arts. Wood
ogives it as a report that he \yas first admitted to holy orders,
hothrsjnore certain that be was made M. D. in 1647, and
principal of Gloucester Hall. He then travelled on the
continent with his pupil, Lucius, lord Falkland, for two
. l Ifcnouartl. — Dibdiu's Classics.— and Bibl. Spenceriana passion, for notipes
•fallthe Aldi.
* Leland.— Tanner.— Warton's Hist, of Poetry.— Cave, vol. IX.-*Fabricii
Bibl. Lat. Med.
tW MA.P.LE T.
yean9 and wtotys an account of his travels in Latin, which
Guidot promised to publish. He then travelled with Hen-
ry, brother to Lucius lord Falkland, and on his return
settled .^s a physician at Bath in summer, and at Bristol
in wiqtprf . and had great practice. During the usurpation
he had been ejected from his office of principal of Glou-
cester Hall, but was restored in 1660, and soon after re-
signed it. He died at Bath, Aug. 4, 1670, and was buried
in the cathedral, with a monument and inscription cele-
brating his learning and skill as a physician. Wood speaks
of his Consultations with certain physicians, his cosmetics,
and his, poems, and epitaphs, but does not say where these
are to be found, or whether printed. He has not escaped
the diligence of Eloy, who, however, merely copies from
the Ath. Ox. The only publication printed appears to have
been a collection of letters on the efficacy of the Bath
waters, , published by Guidot under the title " Epistolangfri
Medicariyn specimen de Thermarum Batboniensiunnef-
fectis, ad clariss. medicos D. Bate Eraser, Wedderbourne,
&c." Lond. 1694, 4to. He appears to have been a dif-
ferent person from the J. Maplet who wrote " A Discourse
of metals, stones, herbs, &c." printed in 8vcr. This is
mentioned by Dr. Pulteney, who says the author was of
Cambridge.1 **'.•<;'
MAPLETOFT (John), a very learned. Englishman, was
descended , from a good family in Huntingdonshire, and
born at Margaret-Inge, in June 1631. He was educated
under the famous Busby at Westminster-school, .and being
king's scholar, was elected thence to Trinity college,; Cam*
bridge, in 1648. He took his .degrees in arts' at the re-
gular time, and was njade fellow of his .college Jn 1653.
In 1658 he left the college in order to be tutor to Joseelin,
son of Algernon, the last earl of Northumberland, with
whom he continued till 1660, and then travelled at his own
expence, to qualify himself for, the -profession of physic,
into which he had resolved to enter some years before.
He passed through France to Home, where he lived near
a year iu the bouse of the hoti. Algernon Sidney, to whom
he was recommended by his uncle the earl of Northumber-
land. In 1663 he returned to England, and to that earl's
family ; and, taking his doctor of physic's degree at Cam-
bridge in 1667, he practised in London. Here he cqbl-
1 Ath. Ox. vo!. If,— Pultncy's Sketches.— E!oy Diet. Hist, de MWipjne. ;
MAPLETOFT. ill
tracted an acquaintance- with many eminent persons in bis*
own faculty, as< Willis, Sydenham, Locke; and with se-
veral of the most distinguished divines, as Whichcote,
Tilloteon, Patrick, Sherlock, Stillingfleet, Sharp, and Clag-
get. hi I670he attended lord Essex in his embassy to
Denmark; and, in 1672, waited on the lady dowager
Northumberland into France. In March 1675, he was
chosen professor of physic in Gresham college, London;
and, in 1676, attended the lord ambassador Montague,
and lady Northumberland, to France. The same year
Dr. Sydenham published ihis " Observations medicae circa
inorborum acutorum historiahi et curatjonem," which he
dedicated to Dr.Mapletoft; who, at the desire of the
author, had translated theta into. Latin. • He held has pro-
fessorship at Gresham till October 1679, and married the
month following. ■' >
Soon after his marriage he relinquished the practice of
physic, and retired, in order to turn bis* studies to divinity.
In March 1689, be took both deacon's and priest's orders,
andi was. soon * after presented to the rectory of Braybrooke
in Northamptonshire, by lord Griffin. In 16S4 he was
chosen lecturer of Ipswich, and a year after, vicar of St.
Lawrence Jewry, and lecturer of St. Christopher's in Lon-
don. In 1689 he accumulated bis doctor's degree in di-
vinity, while king William was at Cambridge. In 1707
be was chosen president of Sion college, having been a
benefactor to their building and library. He continued to
preach in his church of St; Lawrence Jewry till he was
turned of eighty ; and, when he vyks thinking of retiring,
he printed a book entitled " The prineiples and duties of
the Christian religion," &c. 1710, 8vo, a copy of which
he sent to every house in his parish. He lived the last ten
years of his life with his only/daughter Elizabeth, the wife
of Dr. Gastrell, bishop of Chester, sometimes at Oxford;
and in the winter at Westminster, where he died in 1721,
in his ninety-first year. He was a very polite scholar,
wrote Latin elegantly, was a great master of the Greek,
and understood well the French, Spanish, and Italian
languages.
Besides his Latin translation of Sydenham's " Observa-
tiones medicae," and " The principles and duties of the
Christian religion," he published other tracts upon moral
and theological subjects; and, in the appendix to " Ward's
Lives of the professors of Gresham college/' from which
%n MAPLETGFT.
this account is extracted, there are insetted three Latitf
lectures of his, read at Gresfaam in 167S, upon the origin
of the art of medicine, and the history of its invention. '
MAPLfiTOFT (Robert), an English divine, was born
at North Tboresby in the county of Lincoln, in the be*
ginning of 1610, of which place his father, Henry Maple-*
toft, was many years rector. He was educated at the free
grammar school of Louth, and admitted of Queen's college
in -Cambridge* When he had taken the degree of B. A.
he removed to Pembroke hall, and was there made fel-
low January 6, 1630; and in or about 163$ was appointed
tbaplain to bishop Wren. He was one of the university
preachers in 1641, and was some time after one of the
proctors of the university. In 1644 (being then bachelor
io divinity) he was ejected from his fellowship for not taking
the covenant. After this he retired, and lived privately
among bis friends, and particularly with sir Robert Shirley
in Leicestershire, where he became acquainted with Dr«
Sheldon, who became archbishop of Canterbury. He had
afterwards a private congregation in Lincoln, where he used
to officiate according to the Liturgy of the church of
England : this had like to have produced him much trouble;
but it being found that he had refused a considerable sum
of money offered him by his congregation, he escaped pro*
sectuion. Oil the restoration he returned to Cambridge,
and was re-instated in his fellowship, and was presented by
the Crown, August 1, 1660, on the death of Dr. Newell, t*
the prebend of Clifton in Lincoln cathedral, to which he
was installed August 23, 1660: and then resigning it, he
was ,alsQ on the same day installed to the sab-deanery of
the same church, which he resigned in 1671 ; and about
the same time he became rector of Clay worth in Notting-
hamshire, which living he afterwards exchanged for the
vicarage of Sobam, in Cambridgeshire. In 1661 he re-
signed his fellowship, and about that time was invited by
archbishop Sheldon to be chaplain to the duchess of York,
then supposed to be inclining to popery, and in want of a
person of Dr. Mapletoft's primitive stamp to keep her
steady to her religion ; but he could not be prevailed upon
to accept the appointment. In 1664 he was elected mas-
ter of Pembroke hall, and became doctor in divinity, and
was by the king, August 7, 1667, promoted to the deanery
* Ward's prcibaia Profewrs.— Biof. Brit. Supplement, vol. VII.
MAPLETOFT. 27S
of Ely. He served the office of vice-chancellor of the
university of Cambridge in 1671, and died at Pembroke
hall, August 20, 1677. His remains, according to his own
desire, were deposited in a vault in the chapel of that
college, near the body of bishop Wren, the founder of it,
his honoured friend and patron, without any memorial.
Dr. Mapletoft lived very hospitably at Ely, and wherever
be resided, and was esteemed for the many pious and
charitable acts in his life-time; and, at bis death, after
many gifts, legacies, and charitable donations, he be-
queathed to the university 100/. towards purchasing Go-
lius's library of Oriental books for the university library ;
and in case that design was not executed, then to some
permanent university use, at the discretion of the vice-
chancellor and the two professors of divinity ; 100/. to poor
widows, chiefly clergymen's. His benefactions to the
church of Ely were, to the dean and chapter for ever, all
his close called hundred acres in the Wash in the town of
Coveney, for the increase of the singing men's stipends,
and on condition that they should frequent early prayers
in the cathedral. He also bequeathed to the same church
his library of books, and 100/. toward fitting up a place to
receive them, and furnishing it with more books; to each
of the prebendaries a ring of 20s. to each* minor canon and
schoolmaster 205. to each singing-man and verger 10s. and
to the choristers 5s. each.
In a codicil to his last will, signed 17th day of August,
1677, he gives to the use of the town of North Thoresby,
in the county of Lincoln, bis two cottages and one mes-
suage, vfrith all his lands in the same town and fields of the
same for ever, to be settled upon trustees, for and towards
the maintenance of one fit person to teach the scholars
there to read, to learn them their catechism, and instruct
them in it, to write, to cast accounts, and to teach them
their accidence, and to make them fit for the grammar
school, according, to the rules and orders which he or his ex-
ecutors should prescribe ; and also gives all those his lands,
meadow, and pasture in Saltfleetby to the use of the town
of Louth for ever, for and towards the maintenance of one
fit person to teach the children there in like manner as in
his gift to North Thoresby, per omnia. He gives likewise
to the master, fellows, and scholars of Pembroke Hal},
lands in Coveney for ever, on condition that they pay
yearly for ever to two poor scholars to be called his exhi-
Vou XXI. T
374 MAPLETOFT.
bitioners, 4l. each, and that they lay out yearly 40*. in
good books for the library 6f the said college. '
MARACCI (Louis), t learned author, born at Lucca
in 1612, became a member of the congregation of regular
derks, " de la Mere <fe Dieu." He obtained a name in
, tlfe literary world by an edition of the Koran, published at
Padua in 1698, in 2 vols, folio, and entitled " Alcorani
Textus universes, Arabice et Latine," to which he sub*
.,, joined notes, with a refutation, and a life of Mahomet*
The argumentative part, however, is not always solid; the
w cjrftjfcs in Arabic have found several faults in the printing
of that language ; and the editor appears to be. more versed
_.'. in the Mussulman authors thai), in philosppby or theology,
Maracci had a large shar^in. the edition of th§ Arabic
Bible printed at Rome iu 1671, in 3 vols, folio; and. was
certainly very successful as a professor of Arabic, in the
s college delja Sapienza. Innocent Xl. respected his vir-r
tues and knpwledge, chose him for bis confessor, and
would have raised him to the purple, had not his great
• modesty declined that honour. He died in 1700. Niceron
-> recounts a long list of his works. *
MARALD1 (James Philip), a learned astronomer and
mathematician, was born in 1665 at Perinaldo in the county
of Nice, a place already honoured by the birth of his ma<*
terual uncle, the celebrated Cassini. Having made a cob-
siderable progress in mathematics, at the age of twenty-
two his uncle, who had been a long time settled in France,
invited him there, that he might himself cultivate the
promising genius of his nephew. Maraldi np sooner ap-
plied himself to the contemplation of the heavens, than
be conceived the design of forming a catalogue of the
fixed stars, the foundation of the whole astronomical edi-
fice. In consequence of this design, . he applied himself to
observe them with the most constant attention ; and he
became by this means so intimate with them, that on being
shown any one of them, however small, he could imme-
diately tell what constellation it belonged to, and its place
in that constellation* He has been known to discover
those small comets, which astronomers pften takg for the
stars of the constellation in which they are seen, for want
of knowing precisely what stars the constellation consists
•
) Ward's Gresham Professors; — but chiefly his life in the Gent. Mag. vol.
LXXVII. • Niceron, vol. XLI.— DicL Hist.
MAR 4 I; D:l. 275
of, when others, on the $pot, and with $yes directed
equally to the. sate e part of the heavens, cbuld. not for it
long time see any thing of them.
. In l TOO he was employed under Cassini in prolonging
the, French meridian to the northern extremity pf France*
and had no small share in completing it, He next set ,ont
for Italy, where Clement the Xlth invited him to assist a£
the assemblies of the congregation then pitting in Rome, to
reform the calendar. Bianchini also availed himself. pfhis
assistance to construct the great meridian pf tbe Cartbu>-
sian church in that city. In 1718 Maraldi, with three
other academicians, prolonged the French meridian to the
southern extremity of that country.. He was admitted a
mepiber of the academy of sciences of Paris in 1699, in
the department of astronomy, and communicated a great
multitude of papers, which are printed in their memoirs, in
almost every year from 1699 to 1729, and usually several
paper* in each of the years ; for he was indefatigable in his
observation of every thing that was curious and useful in
the motions and phenomena of the heavenly bodies..^ As
to the catalogue of the fixed stars, it was not quite com*
pleted: just as be had placed a mural quadrant on the
terras of the observatory, to observe some stars towards
the north and the zenith, he fell sick, and died the 1st of
December 1729. 1
. MARANA (John Paol), the author of the Turkish Spy*
a book cried up far beyond its merits, for a long time,
both in France and England, was born about 1642, at or
near Genoa. When he was only twenty-seven or twenty-
eight, be was involved in the conspiracy of Raphael de la
Torre, who was desirous to give up Genoa to the duke of
Savoy. After being imprisoned four years, he retired to
Monaco, where he wrote the history of that plot, printed
at Lyons, jn 1632, in Italian. It contains some curious
particulars. ,
Marana, who had always wished to visit Paris, in 1682
went to settle there; and his merit being distinguished,
be found patronage from several people of consequence*
He there wrote his " Turkish Spy," in 6 vols, duodecimo,
to which a seventh was added in 1742, when the last edi-
tion appeared. Though the style of this work was neither
* Hottoa'8 Diet.— Martin's Biog. Phitoi.— Fabroni Vita Italorum, vol. VIII.
— Moreri.
T 2
276 M A K A N A.
precise, correct, nor elegant, it was greatly relished by the
public. The author had the art to interest curiosity by an
amusing mixture of adventures, half true and half ficti-
tious, but all received at the time as authentic, by persons
of confined information. Few supposed the author to be
a real Turk, but credit was given to the unknown Euro-
pean, who, under a slight fiction, thus delivered opinions
and anecdotes, which it might not have been safe to pub-
lish in a more open manner. The first three volumes were
most approved ; the next three, which are in reality much
inferior, were received with a proportionable degree of
attention. The whole are now the amusement of few ex-
cept very idle readers. Many other spies of a similar kind
have been formed upon this plan. Marana lived at Paris,
rather in a retired manner, which suited his taste, to 1689,
when the desire of solitude led him to retire into Italy,
where he died in 1693.1
MARAT (John-Paul), a prominent actor in the French
revolution, was born of protestant parents, in Neufehatel,
in 1744. In early life he went to Paris to study physic,
and appears to have made very great proficiency in it;
but probably from not having patience to pursue the pro-
fession in a regular course, he became an empyric, selling
his medicines at an extravagant price. On the breaking
out of the revolution, he took the lead among the most
violent and savage of all the factions that disgraced the ca-
pital ; and had endeavoured to preach murder and rob-
bery long before it appeared probable that such crimes
could have been practised with impunity. His first publi-
cation was a periodical paper, entitled the "Publiciste
Parisien," in wliich he, without scruple, and without any
regard to decency and truth, attacked Neckar, and other
men eminent for their integrity and public talents. His
next paper was entitled " The Friend of the People," in
which he more openly excited the troops to use their arms
against their generals, the poor to plunder the rich, and
the people at large to rise against the king. Afte/ the de-
position of Louis XVI. he was named a deputy of the de-
partment of Paris to the convention, in which assembly be
appeared armed with pistols. In April 1793, he publicly
denounced the leaders of the Brissotine party, accusing
them of treason against the state : he was supported by
«
1 Moreri, — Diet. Hist.
MARAT. 277
Robespierre ; a.violent tumult ensued, but Marat and his
friends were subdued, and himself impeached and prose*
.cuted; in a few days, being brought to trial, he was acquit-
ted. The triumph of his party was now unbounded, and
they soon gained such an ascendancy over their enemies,
that they murdered or banished all that attempted to obstruct
the progress of their nefarious projects ; till at length their
ieader Marat fell a victim to the enthusiastic rage of a fe-
male, Charlotte Cord6, who had travelled from Caen, in
Normandy, with a determination of rescuing, as she hoped,
her country from the hands of barbarians, by the assassi-
nation of one of the chief among them. He died unpitied
by every human being, who was not of the atrocious fac-
tion which he led, having, for some weeks, acted the most
savage parts, and been the means of involving many of the
most virtuous characters in France in almost indiscriminate
slaughter. Previously to joining in revolutionary politics,
he was Ifiiown as an author, and published a work *' On
Man, or Principles of the reciprocal Influence of the Soul
and Body," in two volumes, 12mo: also some tracts on
Electriqity and'Light, in which he attacked the Newtoniaci
System. These works had been forgot long before he
began to make a figure in the political world ; but it \i
remarkable that bis death occasioned a fresh demand for
them. They are now, however, again sunk into oblivion,
and his name is never mentioned but with contempt and
horror.*
MARATTI (Carlo), one of the most admired painters
of the Italian school, was born in 1625, at Camerino in the
march of, A neon a. When quite a child he is said to have*
pressed out the juices of flowers, which he used for colours
in drawing on the walls of his father's house. This pro-
pensity most probably induced his parents to send him to
Rome a^ eleven years old; where, by his manner of copy-
ing the designs of Raphael in the Vatican, he obtained
the favour of Andrea Sacchi, and became his pupil. From
the grace and beauty of his ideas he was generally em-
ployed in painting Madonnas and female saints; on which
account he was, by Salvator Rosa, satirically called
Carluccio delta Madonna. He was far from being ashamed
of this name, and in the inscription placed by himself on
his monument (nine years before his death), he calls it
1 JBiog. Modefne —Dick Hist.— Rees's Cyclopaedia.
9
/
278 M A R A T t I.
§
gloriosum cognomen? and professes his particular devotion
to the Virgin Mary. The pope, Clement XI. gave him a
pension, and the title of Caoatiero ii Cristo ; and he wats
appointed painter in ordinary to Lours XIV. He died at
Rome, loaded with honours, in IT IS, at the advanced! age
of eighty-eight Extreme modesty and gentleness were
the characteristics of bis disposition ; and his admiration
of the great models he had studied was such, that not
content with having contributed to preserve the works of
Raphael and the Car*ccis in die Farnese gallery, he erected
monuments to them in the Pantheon, at his own expehce.
Sfveral plates are extant, etched by him in aquafortis, in
which he has displayed abundant taste and genius.
Of this artist Mr. Fuseli says, that although " he enjoyed
in his life the reputation of one of the first painters of
Europe, his talent seldom rose above mediocrity ; he de-
lighted in easel-pictures or altar-pieces, though not unac-
9uaihted with fresco. He is celebrated for the lovely, mo-
est, and yet dignified air of bis* Madonnas, the grace of his
angels, the devout character of his saints, and their festive
dresses. His best pictures are in the style of Sacchi: those
ior bis second manner are more elaborate, more ankibusly
Studied, but, with less freedom, have less grandeur; The
masses of his draperies are too much intersected, shew the
naked too little, and sometimes make his figures appear too
heavy or too short, He certainly aimed at fixing Ips prin-
cipal light to the most important spot of his picture; bur,
being unacquainted with the nature and the gradations
of shade, involved its general tone in a certain mistiness,
which was carried to excess by his pupils, and became a
characteristic mark of his school; He studied in his youtfk
the style and works of Raphael with the, most sedulous
attention, and strove to imitate him at every peridd of ftis
practice ; but it does not appear that he ever discriminated
his principles of design or composition, notwithstanding
the subsequent minute and laborious employment of re-
storing his frescoes. , * ' ♦
"The churches and palaces of Rome, filled with th*
pictures of Maratti, bear witness of his popularity *' bti$
perhaps,, no work of his can impress us with a more *Jj|*
Vfmtageous opinion of bis powers, than the fifathsftebti
viewed by David ; a work, of which it is easier to feel ; than
to describe the charmsfr which has no rival, and seems to
preclude all hope of equal success in any future repetition
M A ft A T T I. X?9
of the subject*' Maratti had a, daughter, Marijjtfaratti,
whom he instructed himself in the art ; hexportrait, exe-
cuted by herself, in a painting att^iide, is in the gallery
Corsini at Rome. '
MARC A (Peter de), one of the greatest ornaments of
the Gallican church, but a man of great inconsistency of
character, was born in 1594, at Gam, in Beam, of a very
ancient family in that principality. He went through his
course of philosophy among Jthe Jesuits, and theti studied '
the law for three years; after which he was received a
counsellor in 1615, in the supreme council at Pail. In
1621 hie was made president of the parliament of Beam f
and going to Paris in 1639, about the affairs of his pro-
vides, was made a counsellor of state. In 1640 he pub-
lished " "the History of Beaih," which confirmed the good
opinion that was conceived of his knowledge and parts.
fee was thought, therefore, a very proper person to under-
take a delicate and important subject, which offered itself
about that time. The bourt of France was then it variance
witb tile court of Ronie, and the book which Peter de Puy
published, concerning the liberties of the Gallican church,
greatly alarmed the pahffians of the court of Rome ; sotoe
3f whom endeavoured to pefsuade^he world that they were >
the preliminaries of a schism (GonMvAl by cardinal* Riche*
lieu ; as if his emihency had it in his head to erect a patri-
archate in that kingdom, in order "to render the Gallican
cdtarch independent bf the pope. A French divide, M.
hersent (see Hersen*), who took the name of Optatus
Gallus, addtessed -A book" to the clergy upon the subject;
and insinuated that the cardinal had brought over to bis
party a great persotlage, who was 'ready to defend this
conduct of the cardinal; and this grfeat personage was
Pete'r deMa^rca. But an insinuation of this nature tending
Mb ihfeke the cardinal odious, as it occasioned a rumour
that 'bfe aspired to the patriarchate, the king laid his com-
tfjjftftb dn'tfe Marca to refute Hersent's work, and at the
same time to preserve the liberties of the Gallican church
6n the one hand, and to make it appear on the other that ,
flfttee liberties did not in the least diminish the reverence
dtt&td^he holy see. . He accepted of this commission, ami
executed it by his book "De Concordia sacerdotii & iifiperii,
- Jr A^uvm^, to!. I.-iPMttgtoa by Fuieli.r4ir J. Rejrnold^ WotU;itl
280 MARC A.
sive, de libertatibus ecclesiae Gallicae," which be published
in 1641. He declared in his preface, that he did not enter
upon the discussion of right, but confined himself to the
settling of facts : that is, he only attempted to shew what
deference the Western churches had always paid to the
bishop of Rome on the one side; and on the other, what
rights and privileges the Gallican church had always pos-
sessed. But though he. had collected an infinite number
of testimonies in favour of the pope's power, the work was
of too liberal a cast not to give offence : perhaps even the
very attempt to throw the subject open to discussion was not
very agreeable ; and accordingly, the court of Rome made
a great many difficulties in dispatching the bulls which
were demanded in favour of de Marca, who bad, in the
end of 1641, been presented to the bishopric of Conserans.
That court gave him to understand that it was necessary
he should soften some things he had advanced ; and caused
his book to pass a very strict examination. After the
death of Urban VlII. cardinal Bichi warmly solicited Juno-
cent X. to grant the bulls in favour of the bishop of Con-
serans ; but the assessor of the holy office recalled the
remembrance of the complaints which had been made
against his book " De Concordia," which occasioned this
pope to order the examination of it anew. De Marca,
despairing of success unless he gave satisfaction to the
court of Rome, published a book in 1646, in which he
Explained the design of his " De Concordia," &c. sub-
mitted himself to the censure of the apostolic see, and
shewed that kings were not the authors, but the guardians
of the canon laws. ".I own," says he, " that I favoured the
side of my prince too much, and acted the part of a president
rather than that of a bishop. I renounce my errors, and pro-
mise for the future to be a strenuous advocate for the au-
thority of the holy see." Accordingly, in 1647, he wrote
a book entitled " De singqlari primatu Petri," in which he
proved that St, Peter was the only head of the church;
and this he sent to the pope, who was so pleased with it,
that he immediately granted his bulls, and be was. made
bishop of Conserans in 1648. This conduct of de Marca
has been noticed by lord Bolingbroke, in his posthumous
work's* wit^ .becoming indignation. Recalls him "a time-*
serving priest, interested, and a great flatterer, if ever
there was one;" an 4 adds, that, " when he could not get
his bulls dispatched, he made no scruple to explain awfcjr
M A R C A. 281
all that "he had said in favour of the state, and to limit the
papal power."
In 1644, de Marca was sent into Catalonia, to perform
the office of visitor -general, and counsellor of the viceroy,
which he executed to the year 1651, and so gained the;
affections of the Catalonians, that in 1647, when he was
dangerously ill, they put up public prayers, and vows for
his recovery. Th/e city of Barcelona, in particular, made a
vow to our lady of Montserrat, and sent thither in their name
twelve capuchins and twelve nuns, who performed their
journey with their hair hanging loose, and bare-footed.
De Marca was persuaded, or rather seemed to be per-
suaded, that his recovery was entirely owing to so many
vows and prayers ; and would not leave Catalonia without
going to pay bis devotions at Montserrat, in the beginning
of 1651, and there wrote a small treatise, " De origine &
progressu cult&s beatse Marise Virginis in Mftnteserato,"
which he left in the archives of the monastery ; so little
did he really possess of that liberality and firmness of mind
which is abovje vulgar prejudice and superstition. In Au-
gust of. the same year, he went to take possession of his
bishopric ; and &e year after was nominated to the arch*
bishopric of Toulouse, but did not take possession till.
1655. In 1656 he assisted at the general assembly of the
French clergy, and appeared in opposition to the Jan-
senists, that be might wip&off all suspicion of his not being
an, adherent of the court of Rome, for he knew that his
being suspected of Jansenism had for a long time retarded
the bull which was necessary to establish him in the arch-
bishopric of Toulouse. He was made a minister of state
in 1658, and went to Toulouse in 1659. In the following*
year he went to Roussillon, thereto determine die marches
with the commissaries of the king of Spain. In these con-
ferences be had occasion to display his learning, as they
involved points of criticism respecting the language of Pom-}
ponius Mela and Strabo. It was said in the Pyren&u
treaty, that the limits of France and Spain were the same,
with those which anciently separated the Gauls from Spain*
This obliged th$m to examine whereabouts, according to
the ancient geographers, the Gauls terminated here ; and'
d$ Marca' s knowledge was of great use at this juncture.
He took a journey to Paris the same .year, and obtained
the appointment of archbishop of Paris ; but died there
J»ne 29, 1662, the very day that the bulls for his promo*
1282 to A H C A.
tian arrived. Hi^su&ten death, at thi* time, occasioned
the following jocular epitaph :
■ " Ci git monseigneur de Marca*
Que le Roi sagement marqua,
• Four le prelat de son e£li*e 3
.Majs la mort qui le remarqua/
Et qui se plait a lq. surprise,
Tout aussitdt le demarqua."
He left the cafe of his manuscripts to Mr. Baluze, *wbb
had lived with him ever since June, 1656, and who htfe
written bis life, whence this account is taken. Baluze*
also published an edition of his work " De Concordia," in
1704, as originally written: The only other works he
wrote of any note are his " Hrstoire de Beam," Paris,
J640,4bL and his H Marca Hispanica* sive Limfcs His*-
paoicus," Paris, 16S8, fol. edited by Baluze. Le Clerc
Very justly thinks Baluze's account of De Marca, a pane*-
gyric'or an apology rather than a life* The most favour-
able trait in De Marca' s character Was bit ambition to rise by
learning, which certainly first brought him Into notice. H6
is said to have renounced all the pleasures of yduth, while he
was at school, for the Ibve of books ; and tti have foretold t6
his school-fellows, who spent their tune in vain amusements,
the difference which would one day app'ear between *heir
glory and his. It was at Toulouse that he laid the ground*
work of his great learning; auti he did not neglect td
make himself a complete master of the Greek tongue,
which greatly distinguished him from other learned men.
He was early mdrried to a young lady of the ancient
fatmMy of the viscounts of Lavedan, who bore him several
children ;-. but she dying in 1632, he went into orders.1
. M ARC-ANTONIO. See RAIMONbl.
MARCELLINUS. See AMMIANU8.
MARCELLO (Benedetto), fet nobleman celebrated for
musical knowledge, was born July 24, 16^80, at Venice,1
and was the descendant of one of the most illustrious faU
milies of that republic. He had cultivated music so seitf-
ously.aud successfully under the guidance of the celebrated
Gasparini, that no contemporary professor was more re^
iterenced for musical science, or half ^o* much praisgd fb^
his abilities as a compose^ Us MftrCello ; arid BeslSfefe Hrf
musical productions, consisting of psfela&, oneHM^madri-
. , ♦""!
J Dupin.— pen. pfet«— Nieeri*, Tol,^U,-rP«raaltS| ^i^S^fee^Wtai
MARC t 1 1 & 2M
gats, songs, and cantata*, he was frequently his own poet,
and sometimes assumed the character of lyric bard for
other musicians. It is probable that Marc el I o had received
some disgust in his early attempts at dramatic music ; for,
in 1720, he published a furious satire upon composers,
/Singing-masters, and singers in general, under the title
of " Teatro alia Moda," or " An easy and certain Method
of composing and performing Italian Operas in the modern
'manner.19 But his great musical work, to which the late
Mr. Avison's encomiums and Mr. Garth's publication to
'English words, have given celebrity in our own country,
was first printed at Venice, in 8 vols, folio, under the fof-
lowing title: " Estro poetico-armonico, Parafrasi sopra
1 primi 50 S&lmi, Poesia di Girolamo Ascanio Giustiuiani,
Musica di Benedetto Marcello, Patrizj Veneti, 1724 and
1725." Dr. Burney, after a careful examination of thia
'elaborate work, is of opinion, that though it has Consider-
able merit, the author has been over-praised ; as the sub-
jects of many of his fugues end airs are not only common
&nd old-fashioned at present, but were far from new. at
the time these psalms were composed. But, adds Dr. Bur-
ney, Marcello was a Venetian nobtoman, as Vftnosa was a
Neapolitan prince ; both did honour to music. by cultivating
it; and both expected and received a greater return in
fame than, the legal interest of the art would allow. , Mar-
cello died at Brescia, June 25, 1739, ot, according to our
principal authority, in 1741. He was author of a drama
called a Arato in Bparta," which was' set by fiuggieri, and
performed at Venice in 1704 ; and in1 mo he produced
both the words and the music of an oratorio called rt Giu-
dittd." He set. the " Psyche1' dT!ta,ssini about the same
time; ind in 1718 he published " Sonnets** Of his own
writing, Without music.1 ' > - »
MARCHAND (Prosper), art author to whom the cu-
rious in literary Aistory are greatly indebtefl, was probably
a native of Paris, and born towards the conclusion of the
seventeenth century. He Was bred op as a bookseller itl
that city, a business which always requires some knowledge
of books, but which he carried to an extent very unusual,
and for forty years employed ^lrttost the whole of his time
$ti inspecting the works oi eminent authors, inquiring iritii
{heir history, their editions, differences, and every species
i r *
- * By Dr. Burtxy iikHfrt., tf.Mt*ic-*4udJtqj*fl C^clop^Ui.— IJpC HJiW * j
284 MARCHAND.
of information which fonps the accurate bibliographer*
During the time that Mr. Bernard published the " Nou-
velles de la Republiques des Lettres," Marchand was his
constant correspondent, and contributed all the literary
anecdotes from Paris, which appeared in that journal.
Being, however, a conscientious protestant, and suspect-
ing that in consequence of the repeal of the edict of Nantz,
he might be interrupted in tbe exercise of his religion, he
went to reside in Holland, and carried on the bookselling
trade, there for some time, until meeting with some lack ot"
honesty among his brethren (peu dc bonne-foil qu'.il avoit
trouvetj, be relinquished business, and devoted bis jtime en-
tirely to literary history and biography. In both his know-
ledge was so conspicuous, that the booksellers were always
happy to avail themselves of his opinion respecting intend-
ed publications, and more happy when they could engage
his assistance as an editor. In the latter character, we
find that he superintended an edition* 1. of Ba}'le's " Dic-
tionary /'and " Letters," both which he illustrated with notes.
2. " Satyre Menippge," RatisUonne, (Brussels), 1714, 3
vols. 8vo. 3. " Cymbalum mundi," by Bonaventure de
Perrieres, Amst. 1732, 12mo. 4. Fenelon's " Direction pour
Ja conscience d'un roi," Hague, 1747^ 8vo and 12mo. 5.
The abbe .Brenner's " Histoire des Revolutions de Hon-
grie," ibid., 1739, 2 vols. 4to, and 6 vols. l2mo. 6. " Let-
tres, . Memgires, et Negociations du comte d'Estrades,"
London (Hague), 1743, 9 vols. 12mo. 7. " Histpire de
Fenelon," Hague, 1747, 12mq. 8, " Qeuvres de Bran-
tome," ibid. 1740, 15 vols. l2mo. 9. " Oeuvres de Villon,'*
ibid. 1742, 8vo, &c. &c. \\ -
Marcband was also one of the principal, writers in the
" Journal Litteraire," which was reckoned one of the best
of the kind, and he contributed occasionally to other pe-
riodical ?vorks. He maintained at the same time a regular
and extensive correspondence with the most learned men
in different parts of Europe ; to whom he Communicated,
and from whom he' received communications,: and often:
had it in his power to assist them from the stores of his own
curious and well-chosen library.
Besides the " Anti-Cotton, ou Refutation de Ja lettre de-
claratoire du P. Cotton* avec un dissertation," printed a(
the Hague in 1738, at the end of the history of Don lnigo
de Guipuscoa, and the " Chef-d'oeuvre d'un inconnu,'*
$ften reprinted, he published in 1740 " Histoire de Pirn-
MARCHAND. 285
primerie," Hague, 4to, a work of great research, and often
consulted by* typographical antiquaries, but deficient in
perspicuity of arrangement. A valuable supplement t) it
iMs published by Mercier, the abb6 of St. Leger, 1775,
2 vols. 4to, ' which French bibliographers say is better exe-
cuted than Marchand' s work, and certainly is more correct.
But the work which best preserves the name of Marchand,
was one to which we have taken many opportunities to own
our obligations, his " Dictionnaire Historique, ou Memoires
Critiques et Litteraires, concernant la vie et les ouvrages
de divers person n ages distingue^, particulierement dans la
republique des lettresy" 1758 — 9, 2 vols, folio. This has
1>een by his editor and others called a Supplement to Bayle;
but, although Marchand has touched upon a few of the
authors in Bayle's series, and has made useful corrections -
and valuable additions to them, yet in general the mate-
rials are entirely his own, and the information of bis own
discovering: The articles are partly biographical, and
partly historical ; but his main object being the history of
-books, he sometimes enlarges to a degree of minuteness,
which bibliographers only can pardon, and it must be owned
sometimes brings forward inquiries into the history of
authors and works which his utmost care can scarcely rescue
from the oblivion in which he found them. With this ob-
jection, which by no means affects the totality of the work,
we. know few volumes that afford more satisfaction or in-
formation on the subjects introduced. His accuracy is in
general precise, but there are many errors of the press,
and the work laboured under the disadvantage of not
being handed to the press by the author. He often in-
tended this, and as often deferred it, because his mate-
rials increased so that he never could say when his design
was accomplished ; and at length, when he had nearly over-
come all his scruples, and was about to print, a stroke of
palsy deprived him of the use of his right hand, and un-
fitted him for every business but that of prepariug to die,
and the settlement of his affairs. This last took up little
time. He was a man of frugal habits, content with the
decent necessaries of life, and laid out what remained of
his money in books. The items of his will, therefore, were
few, but liberal. He left his personal property to a society
established at the Hague for the education of the poor;
and his library and MSS. to the university of Leyden. He
died, at an advanced age, June 14, 1756.
*« M A ft C H A W D
His ?' Dictionnaire" he consigned to the care bf a friend,
jWho has given us only the initials of his name (J* N. S. A->)
tjo whpm be likewise intrusted a new edition of bis C4 Hi**-
tory of Printing/* which has never appeared. This friend
undertook to publish the J)ictiopary with the greater aU*
crity, as Marchand assured him that the many script was
ready. Ready it certainly watf, but in such a state as
frightened the editor, being all written upon little pieces
of paper of different sizes, some not bigger than one's
thumb-nail, and written in a character so exceeding small,
that it was not legible to the naked eye. The editor, therer
fore, said perhaps truly, that this was the first book ever
printed by the help of a microscope. These circum-
stances, however, may afford a sufficient apology for the
errors of the press, already noticed ; and the editor cerr
tainly deserves praise for having so well accomplished hit
.undertaking amidst so many difficulties.1
MARC HE (Oliver de la), a French courtier and au-
thor, of the fifteenth century, was the son of a Burgqn*
dian gentleman. He was first page, and afterwards gentle-
man to Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, who so highly
esteemed his fidelity, that be refused to give him up at
the demand of Louis XI. La Marche served afterwards
with zeal under Charles the Rash, who was slain ait the
battle of Nancy, in 1477. After this, he bad the office of
grand maitre d'hotel to Maximilian of Austria, who bad
married the heiress >of Burgundy; and, maintaining the
same post under the archduke Philip, was sent oh an em*
bassy to France after the death of Louis XL He died at
JB^ussels Feb. 1, 1501. His works are, 1. "Memoirs, of
JChronicles," printed at Lyons in 1 562, and at Brussels i»
1616, 4to. They are reckoned inferior to the Memoirs of
Comines, as to their style, but perhaps superior as to their
sincerity. The author relates several curious anecdotes in
a manner which, though flat, is rendered pleasing by its
frankness. 2. " A Treatise on Duels," &c. 8vo. 3. "Trif
oraphe des Dames. d'Honoeur," 1520, 8vo; the Triumph
of virtuous Women. This is a work of dull and trivial
jnorality, full of quaint allusions and metaphors. Several
other performances are said to be extant in print, and in
manuscript, but from the account given of them there is
1 Preface to the Dictionnaire. — Diet Hist.
* . -4 • w
M A R C H R. ' 287
little motive for making tbyem the object of any further
• inquiry.1
MARCHETTI (Alexander), a physician, mathemati- (
cian, and poet of. Pisa, was born at Pontormo, between
JPisa and Tlorence, March 17, 1633. His talents were
early developed, and he became the pupil and intimate
friend of the learned Berelli, whom be succeeded in 1679,
as professor of mathematics at Pisa. He was a man above
prejudices, free to declare his sentiments, preferring expe-
riment to authority, and rqason to Aristotle. He produced
several excellent disciples, and died at Pontormo, Sept*
,6, 1714, aged eighty-one. There are extant by him. 1.
"Poems," 1704, in 4tp. 2. Several treatises on; philoso-
phical subjects, among which that on the resistance of
fluids, is particularly valued, 1-669^ 4to. After his death
appeared, 3. A translation of Lucretius, in Italian verse,
much esteemed for its fidelity, ease, and harmony ; yet,
says Baretti, " the versification, in my opinion, is but in-
different1' It was not allowed to be published in Italy,
but was published in .London, 1717, in 4to, by Paulo Rollt,
the translator of Milton into blank verse* 4. His free trans-
lation of Anacreon is less esteemed ; it was published at
Venice in 1736. There is an edition of his poems, printed
at Venice in 1755, 4to, to which his life is prefixed.1
MARCHETTI, or MARCHETTIS (Peter de), a phy-
sician, was professor of anatomy at Padua, where he was
born, and where be continued to teach that art from 1652
until 1669, when he was allowed to resign his fchair to his
son Anthony. In 1661, he also obtained the appointment
to the first professorship of surgery, which he held along
with that of anatonpy. His merit, in both procured him the
honour of knighthood of the order of Sl Mark. At the
age of eighty years, he retired altogether from the univer-
sity ; and, after having enjoy ed a short period of repose, he
died in April 1673. He left the following works : " Ana-
tomia," Venice, 1654, 4to. " Sylloge Observationum Me-
dico-chirurgk^rum rarjoruoV' Padua* 1664, several times
reprinted, and translated into German. It contained fifty-
three Cjtses of some interest, and three tracts on ulcers, on
fittulse of the urethra, and on spina ventosa.
1 Gen. Diet.— Moreri. — Bullart't Academic des Sciences.— Du Verdier,
vol. HI.
* Fabrooi Vita Italorum, vol. II.— Niceron, vol. VI.— £l*y D'jct Hiak. da la
Medicine.
-2»3 M'ARCHETTI,
His two sons, Dominic and Anthony de Marchetti,
were likewise both professors in their native university of
Padua. The former was author of a good compendium of
anatomy, according to the judgment of Haller, which
passed through several editions, under the title of " Ana-
tomia, cui Kesponsiones ad Riolanum, Anatomicum Pa-
risiensem, in ipsius animadversionibus contra Veslingium,
additae sunt,*' Padua, J 652, &C.1
MARCHMONT (Hugh Hume, Campbell, third earl
of), a nobleman of great learning and accomplishments,
was born in 170S. He was the third in succession to, and
the last inheritor of, that title ; there being no male de-
scendants of his grandfather, sir Patrick Hume, tDe ^rst
earl, and his lordship having survived his only son, Alex-
ander lord Polwarth, who had been created an English
peer, but died without issue of his marriage with the lady
Isabella Grey, daughter of the earl of Hardwicke, and
heiress of the last duke of Kent ; a peeress in her own
right, under a limitation by Charles II. of the barony of
Lucas of Crudwell.
Sir Patrick Hume, the first earl, was raised to the
peerage by king William III, for having taken a very
leading and active part to counteract the arbitrary proceed-
ings of Charles II. ; and afterwards the more dangerous
measures of James II. which threatened the annihilation oi
the liberties of the country, as well as the complete sub-'
version of its religion ; for which attempts he was long
imprisoned in the former reign ; and persecuted with a
most unrelenting spirit in the latter, for having joined in
the unsuccessful attempt of the earl of Argyle in 1685.
King William's private regard for sir Patrick was marked
by his majesty's granting an addition to his arms of an
orange, ensigned with an imperial crown; and by giving
him an original portrait of himself.
Concerning the danger to which sir Patrick was exposed
in the last of the two reigns above-mentioned, we have
the following very interesting narrative in a work recently
published *, for extracting which it is needless to make
any apology. „
When a near relatibn, very dear to sir Patrick, was again
imprisoned, he thought it adviseable to keep himself con-
* Mr, Rose's Observations on Mr. Fox's Historical Work, Appendix No. I. p. V
1 Eloy Diet. Hist, de la Medicine.— Haller. — ReiVs Cyclopaedia.
MARCHMONT. 330
cealed. The following account of his concealment is taken
from the MS* preserved in the family by his grand-daughter.
— *-" After persecution began afresh, and my grandfather
Baillie again in prison, sir Patrick thought it necessary to
keep concealed ; and soon found he had too good reason for
so doing, parties being continually sent out in search of
him, and often to his own house, to the terror of all in it,
though not from any fear for his safety, whom they imagined
at a great distance from home, for no soul knew where he
was but my grandmother, and my mother, except one man,
a carpenter, called Jamie Winter, who used to work in the
house, and lived a mile off, on whose fidelity they thought
they could depend ; and were not deceived. The frequent
examinations and oaths put to servants in order to make dis-
coveries wereso strict, they durst not run the risk of trusting
any of them. By the assistance of this man they got a bed
and bed-clothes carried in the night to the burying-place, a
vault underground at Polwarth church, a mile from the
house, where he was concealed a month; and had only for
-light an open slit at the one end, through which nobody
could see what was below ; she (his daughter) went every
night by herself at midnight, to carry him victuals and
drink, and staid with him as long as she could to get home
.before day. In all this time my grandfather shewed the
same constant composure and cheerfulness of mind that he
continued to possess to his death, which was at the age of
eighty -four ; all which good qualities she inherited from
him in a high degree ; often did they laugh heartily in
that doleful habitation, at different accidents that hap-
• pened. She at that time had a terror for a church-yard,
especially in the dark, as it is not uncommon at her age,
* by. idle nursery stories ; but when engaged by concern for
her father, she stumbled over the graves everyj night alone,
without fear of any kind entering her thoughts, but for
. soldiers and parties in search of him, which the, least noise
or motion of a leaf put her in terror for. The minister's
house was near the church ; the first night she went, his
dogs kept such a barking as put her in the utmost fear of a'
discovery ; my grandmother sent for the minister next day,
< and upon pretence. of a mad dog, got him to hang all his
. dogs. There was also difficulty of getting victuals to
.carry .him without the servants suspecting; the only way it
was done, was, by stealing it off her plate at dinner into
her lap ; many a diverting story she has told about this,
>ojl. XXI. U
-*j
290 MARCHMOtfT.
and other things of alike nature. Her father liked sheep**
head, and while the children were eating their broth, she
had conveyed most of one into her lap ; when her brother
Sandy (the second lord Marchmont) had done, he looked
up with astonishment, and said, " Mother, will ye look at*
Grizzel ; while we have been eating our broth, she has eat
up the whole sheep's head.*' This occasioned so much
mirth among them, that her father at night was greatly en-
tertained by it ; and desired Sandy might have a share in
the next. I need not multiply stories of this kind, of
which I know many. His great comfort and constant en-
tertainment (for he had no light to read by) was repeating
Buchanan's Psalms, which he had by heart from -beginning
to end; and retained them to his dying^day ; two years
before he died, which was in 1724, 1 was witness to hts
desiring my mother to take up that work, which, amongst
others, always lay upon his table, and bid her try if he had
forgot his psalms, by naming any one she would have him
repeat ; and by casting her eye over it she would know if
he was right, though she did not understand it ; and he
missed not a word in any place she named to him, and said
they had been the great comfort of his life, by night and
day, on all occasions. As the gloomy habitation my father
was in, was not to be long endured but from necessity,,
they were contriving other places of safety for him;,
amongst others, particularly one under a bed which drew
out, on a ground floor, in a room of which my mother kept
the key ; she and the same man worked in the night, mak-
ing a hole in the earth after lifting the boards, which they
did by scratching it up with their hands not to make any
noise, till she left not a nail upon her fingers, she helping
the man to carry the earth as they dug it, in a sheet, on
his back, out at the window into the garden ; he then made
a box at his own house, large enough for her father to lie
in, with bed and bed-clothes, and bored holes in the boards
for air ; when all this was finished, for it was long about,
. she thought herself the most secure happy creature alive.
When it had stood the trial for a month of no water coming
into it, which was feared from being so low, and every
day examined by my mother, and the holes for air made
clear, and kept clean-picked, her father ventured homey
having that to trust to. After being at home a week or
two, the bed daily examined as usual, one day in lifting
the boards, the bed bounced to the top, the box beiug
MARCHMONT, 291
full of water : in her life she was never so struck, and had
gear dropped down, it being at that time their only refuge;
her father, with great composure, said to his wife and her,
he saw they must tempt Providence no longer, and that it
was now fit and necessary for him to go off, and leave
them; in which he was confirmed by the carrier telling
for news he had brought from Edinburgh, that the day
before, Mr. Baillie of Jerviswoode bad his life taken from
him at the Cross, and that every body was sorry, though
they durst not shew it ; as all intercourse by letters was
dangerous, it was the first notice they bad of it ; and the
more shocking, that it was not expected. They imme-
diately set about preparing for my grandfather's going
away. My mother worked night and day in making some
alterations in his clothes for disguise; they were then
obliged to trust John Allen, their grieve, who fainted away
wheq he was told his master was in the house, and that he
was to set out with him on horseback before day, and pre-
tend to the rest of the servants that he bad orders to sell
some horses at Morpeth fair. Accordingly, my grand-
father getting out at a window in the stables, they set out in
the dark ; though with good reason it was a sorrowful
parting, yet after he was fairly gone they rejoiced, and
thought themselves happy that he was in a way of being
safe, though they were deprived of him, and little knew
what was to be either his fate or their own."
Sir Patrick, having by such means eluded all the exer-
tions of government to have bim seized, after the failure
of the duke of Argyle's attempt, escaped to France, and
travelled through that country, as a physician, to Bour-
deaux, from whence he embarked for Holland, where be
attached himself to the prince of Orange, looking up to
him, as many others both at home and in Holland did,
as the best resource against the threatened destruction of
every thing most dear to British subjects.
When his serene highness came over, and happily ef-
fected the bloodless revolution, sir Patrick Hume was one
of those who accompanied him, and was by him created
lord Polwarthof Pol warth, and afterwards earl of Marchcnont.
He was also made lord high chancellor of Scotland by king
William; an office in that country, before the Union, of the
highest rank, as it is here.
Alexander, the second earl, second son of the pre*
ceding, was ambassador to Denmark and Prussia in 1715 j
u 2
*»2
ft! A R C H M 6 N T.
in 1716 was appointed lord register of Scotland; and
in 1721 was named first ambassador in the congress at
Cam bray *.
Hugh, of whom we now speak, the third earl, was the
third son of the above-mentioned Alexander, and twin-
brother f of Mr. Hume Campbell, who was in the first
practice at the English bar, but retired from it on being
appointed lord register of Scotland. The subject of our
present article having finished his studies in the learned
languages, in which at an early period of his life he was
a most distinguished scholar, he was sent to Utrecht to
complete his education. Here, under the instruction of
one of the most eminent civilians of modern times, he
succeeded in the attainment of a knowledge of the civil
law to an extent seldom acquired, even by those who were
to follow it as a profession ; and at the same time became
master of several modern languages, which he read and
wrote with great facility.
These qualifications, with an unwearied industry to reach
the bottom of every subject of discussion, and a habit of
speaking, attracted great attention to him, very soon after
his coming into parliament for the town of Berwick, in
1734. He was one of the most active members of the
opposition of that period ; and on the secession of Mr.
Pulteney, afterwards earl of Bath, in 1739, he took the
decided lead in it; but his career in the House of Com-
mons was stopped by his succession to the peerage, on
the death of his father, in 1740. On which occasion sir
ftobert Walpole said to an intimate and confidential friend,
that an event had occurred which had rid him of the op-
ponent by far the most troublesome to him in the House.
When the circumstances here alluded to are considered,
• In the Gent Mag. for 1741 are
some lines addressed by lord Chester-
field to the late earl of Marcbmont or
the death of. his father the preceding
wear.
. f The resemblance between these
brothers was so strong that they were
frequently mistaken for each other by
intimate friends : a remarkable in-
stance of this occurred when the che-
valier.&arjisay was soliciting subscript,
tions for his Travels of Cyrus ; he had
sent a certain number of proposals to
both brothers to get off for him. Lord
Marchmont disposed of all his Tory soon*
Mr. Hume Campbell, in the midst of
business*, forgot those sent to him; and
walking one day in the court of re-
quests with a gentleman who was talk-
ing with him on a cause in which Mr.
Hume Campbell was employed, the
chevalier came to him with expressions
of warm gratitude for his attention,
in so immediately getting off his sub-
scriptions ; on • which the gentleman
who bad been talking with him made
apologies to him for having troubled
him about his cause, assuring him that
he took him for bis brother, Mr. Hum*
Campbell.
MARCHM.ONT. 293
it will not be tbgught surprising that the society of his
lordship, fend his correspondence, should have been sought
by some of the most distinguished characters of the time ;
he lived in close intimacy with lord Cob ham, who placed
his bust among the worthies at Stowe ; lord Cornbury, sir
William Wyndham, lord Chesterfield, and Mr. Pope*;
and notwithstanding an essential difference of opinion from
lord Bolingbroke on some very important points, he was
so attracted by. his most extraordinary talents, as to form
an intimate friendship with him, which continued to the
death of the viscount, although with a short temporary
interruption to it, owing to the part which lord Marchmont
took in vindicating, rather or extenuating, the conduct of
Pope, respecting the printing of lord Bolingbroke' s « Pa-
triot King." Of this affair we have taken some notice ip
our account of Mallet ; and shall be able to throw additional
light on it when we come to the article of Pope, from lord
Marchmont' s account, with which we have been favoured.
The points on which lord Marchmont and lord Boling-
broke differed, were occasionally .the subject of conversa-
tion between them ; respecting which there was certainly
some change in the mind of lord Bolingbroke, towards t\\e
close of his life. This is proved beyond the possibility of
contradiction by the author of a recent publication, of
which we have already availed ourselves f. The evidence
* The earl was one of the executors Pope entertained of his lordship's me-
of Pope, who left his MSS. to lord Bo- rits may be judged of by the following
lingbrok, and lord Marchmont, and lines in the inscription on his grotto at
the survivor of them. The opinion Twickenham:
" Approach : But awful • Lo I the iEgerian grot,
Where,- nobly -pensive, St. John sate and thought:
Where British sighs from dying Wyndham stole,
And the bright flame was shot through Marchment's soul.
Let such, such only, tread this sacred floor,
Who dare to love their country and be poor."
To lord . Marchmont also he be- pressing my deep regret, that soma
queathed the picture of lord Boling- essays written by him in the latter end
broke by Ricbardsoo, and his large of his life are not to be fouod among
paper edition of Thuanus. Among his his works : because they would have
lordship's papers found at his death, illustrated many interesting occurren-
are a great number of Mr. Pope's let- ces in his own time, and would hfve
ters, in many of which he expresses shown his mind in a different state from
the highest esteem ami regard for him. that to which it has been sometimes
These are now in the possession of l> is supposed to be subject. How it bap-
lordship's sole executor, the right hon. pened that they were not published by
George Rose. Mr. Mallet, it is not necessary to state
f «• Having" (says Mr. Rose, In- here; they were certaiuly written j for
traduction, p. xxxi, note C.) •• been in a letter to lord Marchmont from
led by Mr. Fox's observation to men- Argevitle, August 8, 1740, (in my pos-
tioii this nobleman, I cannot resist ex- session) on the occasion of the dearth
294 M A fe C tl M O N T.
is clear as to the a Essays" having been written and ad-
dressed to lord Marchmont ; and it is equally certain, they
are not among the works of his lordship, as edited by Mr.
Mallet, to whose care the whole was intrusted, in conse-
quence of a decided influence he acquired over his lord-
ship, not long previous to his death. How little either of
fame or fortune accrued to Mallet from this advantage, we
bave already noticed in our account of him.
' Lord Marchmont was also distinguished by Sarah duchess
of Marlborough, in a very remarkable manner*, with
whom he lived in the most friendly habits, and was ap-
pointed by her grace one of her executors, with a large
legacy, and named in the succession to a part of her great
estate, on failure of certain heirs of her body (excluding
the duke of Marlborough) on whom she entailed the whole;
the discharge of which trust fell principally on the earl.
After his lordship's accession to the peerage in 1740, he
did not mix in public business till 1747, when he was ap-
pointed first lord commissioner of police in Scotland ; and
had no opportunity of tendering himself conspicuous in poli-
tical life until 1750, when he was elected one of the six-
teen peers, in the room of the earl of Crawford. From this
time he took a very active share in most of the important de-
bates that occurred, which led to his being appointed keeper
of the great seal of Scotland in 1764 (on the death of the
of sir William Wyndbam, lord Boling- ship, and to put together many memo-
broke fays, after mentioning some ei- rials, anecdotes, and other miscellane*
says he was writing, * This puts me in oos pieces which 1 have in my power,
mind of some miscellaneous writings or the materials of which are so ; they
that 1 shall leave behind me, if 1 live shall be addressed to your lordship
a little longer and enjoy a little health ; most certainly ; the subject of a great
the principal parts of them will be his- part will probably carry the whole
torical j and these I intended to address down to posterity ; and there is nothing
to Wyndham ; permit me to address can flatter me more agreeably than to
the whole to you. I shall finish them have future generations know, that I
up with more spirit, and with greater lived and died your lordship's friend.'
pleasure, when I think that if they In which letter, lord B. says be has
carry to posterity any memorial of my tent one of these productions to Pope,
weakness, as an actor or a writer, they * that may not only stay, but atop
will carry thither a character of me, his longing for the rest'."
that I prefer to both, the character of • The duchess in her life-time gave
Wyndham's aud Marchmont's friend.' the earl a remarkably fine portrait of
His lordship certainly fulfilled his in- herself, when in the prime of her
teotions, which is proved net only by beauty, by sir Godfrey Kneller, ia-
what be said to lord Marchmont, but tended by her grace for the duke, her
in a subsequent letter of October 1742 grandson, till she quarrelled with him
(also in my possession), be alludes to decidedly, for bis political conduct
closer retirement m France, and says Pope also gave lord Marchmont the
to the earl, ' it is there 1 propose to original portrait of | himself by Rfcb-
discharge my promise to your lord- ardson.
MARCH MQNT. 295
duke of Athol), the office substituted for that, of lord chan-
cellor. The last political act of his life, was the vote he
gave on Mr. Fox's India bill ; on which occasion he was
the first peer who went below the bar as a non-content.
In the new parliament which met in the spring of 1784,
after the dissolution subsequent to the rejection of that fa*
raous measure, he was not included in, the list of the six-
teen representative peers of Scotland. He then Sold his
house in London, and retired to a small place in Hertfqrd-
shire, that had belonged to the father of the countess,
where he continued to reside during the remainder of his
life, never having quitted it for a single day* He read in-
cessantly in the library which he built for the reception of
his books from London, and for the most valuable qf those
from Marchmont house in Berwickshire, except during a
few hours that he allotted for his daily exercise on horse-
back, and for making improvements that were constantly
?>ing on in his small dpmain near Hemel Hempstead,
he visits he made were almost exclusively in a morning,
and to his nearest neighbours only.
It may be truly said, that there have been few; men in
any age, who read more deeply than this . distinguished
nobleman. The notes he left behind Him on almost every
eminent author of antiquity, and on %he most useful pub-
lications in modem times, afford ao unequivocal proof of
this. He was never himself an author; but it Is to Him
the public are indebted for the publication of the re-
cords of parliament, from very nearly the earliest period
of that assembly meeting, which have thrown most useful
light on our constitutional history. The famous survey of
all the counties in England made under the authority of
William the Conqueror, called Domesday Book *, was
printed at the same time. The earl died at his house m
Hertfordshire, January 10, 1794. !
* This, hook, which is perhaps the oor courts of law, some aiearly at the
oldest authentic record in Europe, it reigns- of king John and Henry the 3d,
as perfectly legible now as it was in under the authority and direction of
1086, when it was written 3 it was in commissioners appointed by his Ma-
ine custody of the chamberlain* of the jesty for that purpose ; for the exeou*
exchequer, till early in the last ceo- tion of which trust, in a manner de-
tury, when* with a great variety of serving the highest commendation, the
other records, it was (on the report of present Speakeil of the House of Coro-
a Committee of the House of Lords) mons (the right honourable Charles
transferred to a separate custody. Abbot) has a very large share of the
Xhe publishing these valuable mum* merit ; in truth, it has* been executed,
ments has. been followed by a very in a great degree, under his immediate
extensive publication of the records of iu&pectioB.
I From private communication, the source of which is perfectly authentic^
296 M A R C I L I U S.
MARCILIUS (Theodore), a learned. German critic,
was born at Arnheim, a town of Gueldres, in 1548. His
father, who was a man of rank and learning, observing in.
him a more than ordinary inclination for books, took parti-
cular care of his education. He had him taught at home
the elements of the Latin tongue, and then sent him to
school at Deventer, where he learned the Greek under
Noviomagus. Marcilius, having made a great progress in
both languages, was removed thence to the university of
Lou vain, where he applied himself to philosophy and civil
law; and, having finished his studies, went to Paris, aud
thence to Toulouse, where he taught polite literature many
years. Returning to Paris, he taught rhetoric in 1578, in
the college of Grassins, and afterwards read lectures in se-
veral other colleges successively. In 1602, he was made
royal professor of the Latin tongue, and the belles lettres ;
and died March 15, 1617. Though he was not a critic of
the first rank, yet he did not deserve the contemptuous
treatment which Scaliger has given him. He published an
edition in Greek and Latin of " Pythagoras's Golden
Verses," at Paris, 1585, with commentaries, which John
Albert Fabricius has called learned ; and notes upon many
of the ancient authors, Persius, Horace, Martial, Catullus,
Suetonius, Aulus Gellius, &c. which are to be found in
several editions of their works. He was also the author of
some Latin works, as, " Historia Strenarura," 1596, 3vo ;
" Lusus de Nemine," &c. and some poems and orations.1
MARC ION, a heretic, who lived in the second century
of the church, was boru at Sinope, a city of Paphlagonia,
upon the Euxine sea, and had for his father the bishop or
that city. Eusebius calls him i foams, the mariner ; and
Tertullian, more than once, Ponticus Nauclerus. Whe-
ther he acquired this name from having learned the art of
sailing in his youth, or from being born in a sea-port town,
ecclesiastical antiquity has not told us. At first he pro-
fessed continency, and betook himself to an ascetic life ;
but, having so far forgotten himself as to debauch a young
lady, he was excommunicated by his father, who was so
rigid an observer of the discipline of the church, that he
could never be induced, by all his prayers and vows of
repentance, to re-admit ;him into the communion of the
faithful. This exposed him so much to the scoffs and
I Niceron, vol Xjfol.— Mortri.— Diet. Hist*
MARCION. 29T
insults of His countrymen, that he privily withdrew himself,
and went to Rome, hoping to gain admittance there. But
his case being known, he was again unsuccessful, which sa
irritated him, that he became a disciple of Cerdo, and es-
poused the opinions of that famous heretic. The most
accurate cbronologers have not agreed as to the precise
time when Marcion went to Rome ; but the learned Cave,
after considering their reasons, determines it, and with the
greatest appearance of probability, to the year 127 ; and
supposes further, that he began to appear at the head of
his sect, and to propagate his doctrines publicly, about the
year 130. Indeed it could not well be later, because his
opinions were dispersed far and wide in the reign of Adrian;
and Clemens Alexandrinus, speaking of the heretics who
lived under that emperor, mentions Basilides, Valentinus,
and Marcion, who, he says, '*' conversed along with them,
as a junior among seniors:" and Basilides died in the
year 134.
The doctrines .of this heretic were, many of them, the
same with those which were afterwards adopted by Manes
and his followers ; that, for instance, of two co-eternal,
and independent principles, one 'the* author of all good,
the other of all evil. In other to support and propagate
this principle more successfully, he is said to have applied
himself to the study of philosophy, that of the stoics espe-
cially. Marcion likewise taught, as Manes did after him, that
the God of the Old Testament was the evil principle ; that
he was an imperious tyrannical being, who imposed the
hardest laws upon the Jews, and injuriously restrained
Adam from touching the best tree in Paradise ; and that
the serpent was a nobler being than he, for encouraging
him to eat of its fruit : on which account, as Theodoret
tells us upon his own knowledge, the Marcionites wor-
shipped a brazen serpent, which they always kept shut up in
an ark. He taught, that Christ came down from heaven to
free us from the yoke, which this being had put upon us;
that Christ, however, was not clothed with real flesh and
. blood, but only appeared to the senses to be so, and that
his sufferings were nothing more than appearance; that
when Christ descended into hell, and preached the Gos-
pel there, he brought the followers of Cain, the inha-
bitants of Sodom, and other wicked people, who were con-
verted from the error of their ways, back with him to hea-
ven ; but that he left Noah, Abraham, and the other
«98 M A R C I O N.
patriarchs, who would not listen to bis preaching, bat trusted
too much to their own righteousness, fast bound in that
horrible dungeon ; that there would be no resurrection of
the body, but only of the soul, &c. &c. He rejected the
N law and the prophets, as being written under the inspira-
tion of the evil god. He rejected also four epistles of St.
Paul, together with all the gospels,' except that of St Luke ;
out of which, and the rest of St. Paul's epistles, he com-
posed, for the use of his. followers, two books, which he
persuaded them were of divine authority ; calling one
" Evangelium," and the other " Apostolicon." Such is
•the account given in Irenseus, in Tertullian's five books
against Marcion, and in Epiphanius.
While Marcion was at Rome, he happened to meet
Polycarp of Smyrna: and upon asking that bishop, " whe-
ther he acknowledged him for a brother ?" " I acknow-
ledge you," says Polycarp, " for the first-born of Satan/*
Tertullian relates that Marcion at length repented of all
his errors, and would have testified bis repentance in pub-
lic, provided they would have admitted him again into the
church. This was agreed to, upon condition that he would
bring back all those whom he had seduced from it ; which
before he could effect, be died. The precise time of his
death cannot be collected from antiquity, any more than
that of his going to Rome. It is certain, that he lived after
Antoninus Pius began to reign ; for, although his heresy
bad spread a great way under Adrian, yet, by his extraor-
dinary vigilance and activity, it spread much further under
Antoninus Pius. His first apology for the Christians was
presented to Antoninus Pius about the year 140; and Jus-
tin Martyr tells us there, in express terms, that " Marcion
of Pontus was then living, and taught his disciples at
Rome." ■
MARCK, or MARCKIUS (John de), au eminent pro-
testaut divine, was born at Sneck in Friesland, in 1655,
and became professor of divinity at Franeker, and professor
of divinity and ecclesiastical history at Groningen, whence
in 16S9 he was removed to the same office at Ley den, and
died there, Jan. SO, 173,1. His first publication was an
inaugural dissertation in 1676, " De augmento scientist
theologies." He afterwards derived great reputatiop from
his " Disputationes duodecim de Sibyllinis caroiinibus,"
1 Cave, toI. I.— Mosbekn and Miioer's.Cb, Hist. — Lardner.
M A R C K. 39*
Franeker, 1682, 8 vo, written in opposition to the senti-
ments of Crasset. 2. xi Compendium theologize," Amst,
1712, 4 to. 3. " Exercitationes Biblicss," published at
different times, amounting to eight volumes. 4. " Exer-
citationes miscellanea." These turn on various disputed
passages in the holy Scriptures, concerning which be com-
bats the opinions of the Roman catholics, Socinians, &c
A selection from his 'works was published at Groningen in
1748, 2 vols. 4to. In the Museum library are two of hit
orations, one on the agreement between the old and new
errors of popery, Groningen, 1683 ; the other on the re-
verence due to the sacred Scriptures, Ley den, 1639* both
in 4to.*
MARE (Nicolas be la), was a principal magistrate of
the Ch&telet under Louis XIV. who reposed great confi-
dence in him, and gave him a considerable pension. He
was employed in several important affairs, particularly
during the scarcity of corn in 1693, 1700, 1709, and 1710.
■He received a free gift of 300,000 livres, arising from the
ninth part of the increased prices of admission to the pub-
lic amusements, exhibited at the Hotel Dieu in Paris; but
this sum did not increase his fortune, for he liberally em-
ployed it all in the expences attendant on the gratuitous
functions of his office, the commissions with which he was
entrusted, and the completion of his great work. He died
April 15, 1723, aged near 82. This worthy magistrate
established his fame by a most laborious treatise on the
police, in 3 vols, folio, to which another author, M, le
Clerc du Briilet, has since added a fourth. Tbey contain a
history of the French police, the privileges of the magis-
trates, the laws on that subject, &c. The two first vo-
lumes had supplements, which, in the edition of 1722,
were thrown into the body of the work. The third yolume
was printed in 1719, and the fourth in 1738, and not re-
printed. There is a valuable plate of the water-conduits
of Paris, which is wanting in some copies.*
MARE (Philibbrt de la), was a counsellor in the par-
liament of Dijon, deeply versed in literature and history,
and esteemed almost as elegant a writer in Latin as the
president de Thou, whom he had made his model. He
died May 16, 1687, after having published several works,
*>f which the most known is, his " Commentarius de Bello
>
> Diet. Hist.— Saxii OftooMt. * Moreri.— Diet Hist.
300 MARE.
Burgundico." This makes a part of bis " Historicorum
Burgundise conspectus/' published in 4to, in 1689* He
wrote also " Huberti Langueti vita," published by J. P.
Ludvvig, at Halle, 1700, 12H10.1
MARECHAL • (Peter Sylvanus), a miscellaneous
French writer, was bom at Paris, Aug. 15, 1750, and was
bred up to the bar, which he quitted for the more general
pursuits of literature. He became librarian to the Maza-
rine college, and from time to time published a great many
works; on various subjects of polite literature, criticism,
manners, poetry, &c. most of which shew considerable ge-
nius and learning, and all were well received by the pub-
lic. His very amiable private character appears to have
procured him many friends and much respect, although his
principles were not always sound, his person had little to
recommend it, and an impediment in his speech rendered
his conversation somewhat painful. He retired to the
country about the close of his life, as he said, " that he
might enjoy the^sun more at his ease." He died at Mont-
rouge, Jan. 18, 1805. His principal works are : 1. "-De
Bergeries," 1770, 12nfo. 2. " Le Temple de Hymen,"
1771, 12mo. 3. " Bibtiotheque des Amans," 1777, 16mo.
4. "Tombeau de J. J. Rousseau," 1779, 8vo. 5. " Le
Livre de tou&les ages," 1779, 12 mo. 6. u Fragmens d'un
poeme moral sur Dieu, ou, Nouvelle Lucrece," 1781, a
poem which the Diet. Hist, says is neither moral nor reli-
gious. 7. " L'age d'or,V 1782, 12mo, an agreeable col-
lection of anecdotes. 8. " Prophetie d'Arlainek," 12 mo.
9. " Livre echappe* au deluge," 1784, 12mo, a collection
of psalms in the oriental style, of which the moral is pure;
but we are told it afforded his enemies a pretence to get
him dismissed from his office of librarian to the Mazarine
college. . 10. u Recueil des poetes moralistes Francais,"
1784, 2 vols. 18mo. 11." Costumes civils actuels de tous
les peuples," 1784, 4to. 12. "Tableau de la fable,"
1787. 13. " Paris et la Province, ou Choix des plus beaux
monumens d'architecture en France," 1787. 14. " Cate-
chisme de cure* Meslier,"' 1789, 8vo. 15. " Dictionnaire
d'amour," 1789, 16mo. 16. " Le Pantheon, ou les figures
de la fable, avec leurs histoires," 1791, 8vo. 17. " Alma-
nec des honnetes gens," 1788, a publication containing
some impieties, for which he suffered imprisonment. 18.
* Moreri.— Diet. Hi*. < - *
MXR'ECHAL SOI
«(
Decades du cultivate™*," 2 vols. 18mo. 19; " Voyage de
Pythagore," 1798, 16 vols. 8vo, in imitation of the Anachar-
sis of Barthelemi, but greatly interior. 20. " Dictionnaire
des ath^es," 18(K). He was also the author .of prefaces
and introductions to various collections or engravings,, as
the history of Greece, 1795, 5 vols. 4to, the fiorence Mu-
seum, 6 vols. 4to, &c.2
MARETS (John des), de Saint Sorlin, was a man of
genius, and a favourite of cardinal Richelieu, who used to
receive him at his retired hours, an (J unbend his mind by
conversing with him upon gay and delicate subjects. On
this account, and because he assisted the cardinal in th6
tragedies he composed, Bayle used to say, that " he pos-
sessed an employment of genius under his eminence;"
which in French is a pun, as genie means* g*mW and en-
gineer ship. He was born at Paris in 1595. He has left
us himself a picture of his morals, which is by no means
advantageous; for he owns that, in order to triumph over
the virtue of such women as objected to him the interest
of their salvation, he made no scruple to lead them into
atheistical principles, "I ought," says he, " to weep tears
of blood, considering the bad use I have made of my ad-
dress among the ladies; for I have used nothing but spe-
cious falsehoods, malicious subtleties, and infamous trea-
cheries, endeavouring to ruin the souls of those I pre-
tended to Jove. I studied. artful speeches to shake, blind,
and seduce them ; and strove to persuade then), that vice
was virtue, or at least a thing natural and indifferent. '•
Marets at -length, became a visionary and fanatic; dealt in
nothing but inward • lights and revelations; and promised
the king of France, upon the strength of some prophecies,
whose meaning he tells us was imparted to him from above,
that he should have the honour of overthrowing the Maho-
metan empire*. " This valiant prince," says he, ." shall
destroy and expel from their dominions impiety and heresy,
and reform the ecclesiastics, the courts of justice, and the
finances. After this, in common agreement with the king
of Spain, he shall summon together all the princes of
Europe, with the pope, in order to~re-umte all-the Chris-
tians to the true and only, catholic religion. After all the
Jjeretics are re-united, to the holy see, the king, as eldest
«on of the church, shall be declared generalissimo of all
.VDict, Hist, ♦
302 M A R E T 3,
•
the Christians and, with the joint forces of Christendom,
shall destroy by sea and land the Turkish empire, and la*
of Mahomet, and propagate the faith and dominion of Je-
sus Christ oyer the whole earth :" that is to say, over Persia,
the eqapire of the great mogul, Tartary, and China,
These absurdities do not appear to have lessened bis
reputation among his countrymen, as the charge of inqui*
sitor was bestowed upon him : and he showed himself very
active in bringing about the extirpation of Jansenism. He
bad been a member of tbe French academy from it* first
establishment, and was always esteemed one of its prin*
cipal ornaments. He wrote several dramatic pieces, which
were received with great applause, especially that entitled
" Les Visionaires." He attempted an epic poem, entitled
" Clovis," which cost him several years9 labour; and he
was of opinion, that it would have cost him a good many
more to have finished it, if Providence bad not destined
his pen for works of devotion, and on that account afforded
him supernatural assistance. This we learn from the pre*
face of his " Delices de F Esprit," in which he professes
that he dare not say in how short a time he bad finished
the nine remaining books of that poem, and retouched the
rest He also very seriously boasts, that "God, in his
infinite goodness, had sent him the key of the treasure,
contained in tbe Apocalypse, which was known but to few
before bim ;" and that, " by the command of God, he was
to levy an army of 144,000 men, part of which he had
already enlisted, to make war upon the impious and the
Jansenists." He died in 1676, aged eighty-one.
His works are thus enumerated : 1. " A Paraphrase off
tbe Psalms of David." 2. " The Tomb of Card. Riche-
lieu," an ode. 3. "The Service to the Virgin," turned
into verse. 4. " The Christian Virtues," a poem in eight
cantos. 5. The four books, " On the Imitation of Jesus
Christ," 1654, 12 mo, very badly translated into Frenck
verse. 6. " Clovis," or France converted, an epic poem
in twenty-six books, 1657. This poem, though the author
thought so highly of it, as we have already seen, is wholly
destitute of genius, and its memory is preserved more by
a severe epigram of Boileau against it, than by any other
circumstance. He wrote also, 7. <' The Conquest of
Franche Comte," and some other poems not worth emir
merating. Besides these works in verse, he published in
'prose, 8. " l^es Delices de V Esprit," a fanatical and incom-
M A R E f S, 305
prehensible work above-mentioned, which was best criti-
cized by a person who said, that at the head of the Errata,
should be put, " for Del ices, read Delires ;" instead of
delights of the mind, ravings of it. 9. " Avis du St. Es-
prit au Roi," still more extravagant if possible than the
former. 10. " Several Romances, and among them one
entitled " Ariane," or Ariadne, at once dull and indecent.
11. " La Veritg des Fables/' 1648, 2 vols. 8vo. 12. A
dissertation on Poets, in which the* author ventures to at-
tack the maxims of Aristotle and Horace. Some writing*
against the satires of Boileau, and several against the Jan-
senists, complete the list. His countrymen now consider
the verses of Des Marets as low, drawling, and incorrect ;
his prose, as disgraced by a species of bombast which ren-
tiers it more intolerable than his poetry.
His niece, Mary Dupre', was born at Paris, and edu-
cated by her uncle. She was endowed with a happy ge-
nius and a retentive memory. After reading most of the
principal French authors, she learnt Latin, and went
through Cicero, Ovid, Quintus Curtius, and Justin. With
'these books she made herself so familiarly acquainted, that
tier uncle proceeded to teach her the Greek language, the
arts of rhetoric and versification, and philosophy ; not that
scholastic philosbphy which is made up of sophistry and
-ridiculous subtleties, but a system drawn from the purer
sources of sense and nature. She studied Descartes with
such application, that she got the surname of la Cart6-
sienue. She likewise made very agreeable verses in her
own language, and acquired a thorough knowledge of the
Italian. She held a friendly and literary correspondence
with several of the learned her contemporaries, as ako
with the mademoiselles de Scuderi and de la Vigne. The
answers of Isis to Climene, that is to mademoiselle de la
Vigne, in the select pieces of poetry published by father
Bouhours, are by this ingenious and learned lady.1
MARETS (Samuel des), a celebrated divine of the re-
formed church, was born at Oisemond in Picardy, in 1599-
At thirteen he was sent to Paris, where he made great
advances in the belles lettres and philosophy ; and three
* years after to Saumur, where he studied divinity under
Qomarus, and Hebrew under Ludovicus Capellus. He
returned to his father in 1618, and afterwards' went to
1 Gen. Diet— Nictron, vol. XXX V.— Moreri.
304 M A R E T S.
Geneva, to finish bis course of divinity. The year follow-
ing be went to Paris, and, by the advice of M. Durand,
applied immediately for admission to the holy ministry, to
the synod of Charenton, in March 1620, who received
him, and settled him in the church of Laon. But bis minis-
terial functions here were soon disturbed; for, the governor
of La Fere's wife having changed her religion, wrote him
a letter in vindication of her conduct, and sent him a
pamphlet containing the history of her conversion. His
answer to this lady's letter provoked his adversaries to such
a degree, that a Jesuit was supposed to have suborned an
assassin, who stabbed him deeply, but, as it happened,
not mortally, with a knife into his breast. Thisjnduced
Des Marets to leave Laon, and go to Falaise in 1624: He
afterwards accepted a call to the church of Sedan ; and
soon after took the degree of doctor in divinity at Leyden,
in July 1625. Having made a short visit to England, he
returned to Sedan. In 1640, he had an invitation to a
professorship at Fraueker ; and to another at Groningen,
•in 1642. This last he accepted; and from that time to
his death, rendered such services to that university, that it
was reckoned one of the most flourishing in the Nether-
lands. The magistrates of Berne, well informed of his
abilities and learning, offered him, in 1661, the professor
of divinity's chair at Lausanne; and, in 1663, the univer-
sity of Leyden invited htm to a like professorship there.
He accepted of this last, but died before he could take
possession of it, at Groningen, May 1 8, the same year.
A chronological table of the works of this celebrated
divine may be found at the end of his " System of Divi-
nity." They are mostly of the controversial kind, and
now seldom inquired after. , He designed to collect all his
works into a body, as well those which had been already
published, as those which were in manuscript. He revised
and augmented them for that purpose, and had materials
for four volumes in folio ; but his death prevented the exe-
cution of that project. The first volume was to. have con-
tained all those works which he had published before bis
being settled at Groningen.^ The second, bis •' Opera the-
ologica didactrca." The third, his " Opera theologica po-
lemica." The title of the fourth was to have, been uIm-
pietas triumphata." Its contents were to have been the
" Hydra Socinianismi expugnata," the " Biga fanaticorum
e versa/* and the " Fabula P>«adamitaruoi refutata ;" three
M A R E T S. 305
works which had been printed at different times. Marets's
system of divinity was found to be so methodical, that they
made use of it at other academies ; and indeed this author's
reputation procured him so much authority in foreign
countries as well as his own, that a person in Germany,
who published some reflections on him, received orders to
suppress his book.1 - - .
MARGARET, Countess of Richmond, &c. See BEAU-
FORT.
MARGARET, Duchess of Newcastle. See CAVEN-
DISH,
MARGARET of Valois, queen of Navarre, and sister
to Francis I. of France, celebrated as an author yet more
than for her rank, was born at Angoul6me, April 1 1, 1492;
being the daughter of Charles of Orleans, duke of Angou-
l£me, and Louisa of Savoy. In 1 509 she married Charles
the last duke of Alencon, who died at Lyons, after the
battle of Pavia, in 1525. The widow, inconsolable at once
for the loss of her husband, and the captivity of her be-
loved brother, removed to Madrid, to attend the latter
durjmg his illness. - She was there of. the greatest service
to her brother, by her firmness obliging Charles and his
ministers to treat him as his rank demanded. His love and
gratitude were equal to her merits, and he warmly pro-
moted her marriage with Henry d'Albret, king of Navarre.
The offspring of this marriage was Joan d'Albret, mother
of Henry IV. Margaret filled the character of a queen
with exemplary goodness ; encouraging arts, agriculture,
and learning, and advancing ,by every means the prosperity
of the. kingdom. She died at the castle of Odos, in Bi-
gorre, Dec. 2, 1549. She had conversed with protestant
ministers, and had the sagacity to perceive the justness of
their reasonings ; and their opinions were countenanced
by he* in a little work entitled " Le Miroir de l'Ame pe-
cheresse," published in 1533, and condemned by the Sorr-
bpqne as heretical * but on her complaining to the king,
these pliant doctors withdrew their censure.. The Roman
catholic writers say, that she was. completely re-cdn verted
before she died. The positive , absolution of the Rotaistb
priests is certainly a great temptation to pious minds in the
hour of weakness and decline. Margaret is described as
an assemblage of virtues and perfections, among . which,
i Geu. Diet.— Niceron, vol XXVIIJ. — Mooeri. — Saxii Onomast.
Vol. XXI. X
306 MA R G A RET.
that of chastity was by no means the least complete, not-
withstanding the freedom, and, to our ideas, licence of
some of her tales. Such is the difference of manners. She
wrote well both in verse and prose, and was celebrated in
both. She was called the tenth muse ; ana the Margaret,
or pearl, surpassing all the pearls of the east. Of her
works, we have now extant, 1. her " Heptameron," or,
Novels of the queen of Navarre, 1559, and 1560, in 4to,
and several times re-published. They are tales in the
style of Bqccace, and are told with a spirit, genius, and
simplicity, which have been often serviceable to Fontaine
in his tales. Several editions have been printed' with cuts,
of which the most valued are that of Amsterdam, in 1698,
in 2 vols. Svo, with cuts by Romain de Hooge ;. the re-
prints of this edition in 1700 and 1 70S, are not quite so
much valued, yet are expensive, as are the editions with
Chodoviechi's cuts, Berne, 1780 — 1, 3 vols. 8vo ; Paris,
1784, and 1790. 2. " Les Marguerites de la Marguerite
des Princesses ;" a collection of her productions, formed
by John de la Haye, her valet de chambre, and published
at Lyons, in 1547, Svo; a very rare edition, as is that of
1 554. In this collection there are four mysteries, or sacred
comedies, and two farces, according to the taste of the
times. A long poem entitled " The Triumph of the
Lamb," and "The Complaints of a Prisoner," apparently
intended for Francis I. l
M ARGON (William Plantavit de la Pause, de), a
French author and journalist, was born in Languedoc, in
the diocese of Bezieres. He appeared at Paris about
171 5j and espoused the cause of the Jesuits against the
Jansenists ; in which business he wrote with so much acri-
mony, that the court thought themselves obliged to banish
him* He was sent to the isles of Larins, in the Mediter-
ranean, and when these were taken by the Austrians in
1746, his. liberty was granted on condition that he would
retire into some religious house. He chose a monastery
of Bernardines, where he died in 1760. His caustic and
satirical disposition rendered him un pleasing in society at
well as in his writings ; and it is thought that his banish-
ment and solitude much increased the acrimony of his cha-
racter. He was concerned in several works, as, l." Memoirs
of Marshal Vi liars/' 3 vols. 12 mo, the two first of which
* Gen. Diet.— Diet. Hist.
MARGON, 307
arc written by Villars himself. 2. €i The Memoirs of the
Duke of Berwick," 2 vols. 12mo. $. " Memoirs of Tour-
ville," 3 vols. 12mo, not much esteemed. 4. "Letters
of Fitz-Moritz." * $. Several <small tracts, and some pieces
of poetry of no great value.1
MARGRAF (Andrew Sigismond), a celebrated che-
mist, was born at Berlin, March 3, 1709. His father was
apothecary to the court, and assessor of the college of
medicine, and under his care his attention was naturally
turned to the pursuits of chemistry and pharmacy. To
pursue these, his father sent him to study under the cele-
brated professor Neumann, for five years, and subsequently
under professor Spielmann, at Strasburg. In 1733 he
went to the university of Halle, where he became a pupil
of Hoffmann in the study of medicine, and continued his
chemical pursuits under the direction of Juncker, to which
last science be ultimately devoted his sole attention. He
also studied mineralogy, under Henckel, and the art of
assaying under Susmilch. In the following year he visited
the' Hurtz mines, and then returned to Berlin, where his
incessant application to chemical labours so materially in-
jured his health, that it was never afterward* vigorous.
In 1738 he was received into the society of sciences, and
furnished some memoirs for the " Miscellanea Berolinen-
sia ;** and when this society was renovated in 1744, as the
royal academy of sciences and belles lettres, he was placed
in the class of experimental philosophy, of which he was
chosen director in 1760. He had also the high gratifica-
tion of being entrusted with the laboratory of the academy
in 1754, in which he almost lived, absorbed in the study
or practice of bis favourite art. He was, nevertheless, "k
man of great amenity of temper, and fconsiderable; con-
viviality, when mixing in the society of his friends. He
had been for some years liable to spasmodic affections, and
in 1774, was attacked with apoplexy, which left a paralysis
behind it. He continued, however, to attend the meet-
ings of the academy till the autumn of 1776 ; after which
his mental and bodily powers gradually declined, and he
<Jied in August, 1782.
Margraf was held in considerable estimation as a chemist,
throughout Europe, and bad the honour of being elected
a member of several learned bodies. All the writings
i Diet. Hiit.
» *
X 2
508 M A R G R A F.
which he produced were published in the Memoirs of the
Literary Society of Berlin, before and after it» renovation ;
but they have been collected and published both in Ger-
man and French. Tbey contain the detail* of a great
number of processes and analyses, described in clear and
simple language. Seme of the most important of his dis-
coveries relate to phosphorus and its acid ; to the reduction
of zinc from calamine ; to the fixed and volatile alkalies ;
to manganese, the Bolognian stone, platina, and the acid
of sugar. In short, he is entitled to rank among the more
accurate experimentalists who contributed to the advance-
ment of the science of chemistry, before the recent limit*
nous improvements which it has gained.1
M ARIALES (Xantes), a laborious Dominican, was bpra
about 1580, at Venice, of the noble family of Pinardii
He taught philosophy and theology for some time, but
afterwards refused all offices in his order, that he might be
more at liberty to study. He died 1660, at Venice, aged
eighty, leaving several large tbeok>gie4l works, the moat
curious among which is entitled " Bibliotheca Interpretum
ad universam summam D. Thomie," 1669, 4 vols, folio;
and several " Declamations," in Italian, against the liber-
ties of the Galhcan church, which involved the writer in
great troubles, and occasioned him to be twice driven from
Venice.1 •
MARIANA (John), a Spanish historian, was born at
Talavera, in Castille, in 1337 \ and entered into the order
of Jesuits when he was seventeen, He was one of the
■
most learned men of bis age, an able divine, a consider-
able master of polite literature, admirably skilled in sacred
and profane history, and a good linguist. In 1561 be was
sent by his superiors to Rome, where he taught divinity,
and received the order of priesthood ; and at the end of
four years went to Sicily, where ne continued the same
profession two years more. He came to Paris ui 1569,
and read lectures publicly upon Thomas Aqtrina* for five
years ; then returned into Spain, and passed the remainder
of his life at Toledo. He wrote many books in Latin.
His piece " De monetae mutatione," gave great offence to
the court of Spain ; for Philip III* haviqg altered and em-
based the coin by the advice of the duke of Lerma, Mart-
* Eloget des Acad«miewnft vol III.— Reei'i Cyclopsclis.
» Moreri.— Diet Hist.
MARIANA. 30*
Ma shewed, with great freedom, the injustice and disad-
vantage of this project ; for which, he was put into prison*
*»d kept there about a year by that minister. But what
made more noise stiH, was his tract " De rege & regis
institutione," consisting of three books, which he published
to justify James Clement, a young monk, for assassinating
Henry III. of France. In this he argues against passive
obedience and non-resistance , asserts the lawfulness of
resisting " the powers that be/' where -the administration
is tyrannical; and founds his whole argument upon this
principle, " that the authority of the people is superior to
that of kings." This' book *f Mariana, though it passed
without censure in Spain and Italy, was burnt at Paris, by
?narr£t of parliament.
: But the most considerable by far of all his performances,
is bis " History of Spain,'* divided into thirty books. This
be wrote at first in Latin ; but, fearing lest some unskilful
pen should sully the reputation of his work lay a bad trans*
Ration of it into Spanish, he undertook that task himself*
not as a translator, but as an author, who might assume the
liberty of adding and altering, as he found it requisite,
upon further inquiry into records, and ancient writers.
Yet neither the Latin nor the Spanish <came lower down
than the end of the reigh of king Ferdinand, grandfather
to the emperor Charles V. where Mariana concluded his
thirty books ; . not caring to venture nearer his own times,
because he* could not speak with the freedom and impar-
tiality of a just historian, of persons who were either alive
themselves, or whose immediate descendants were. 4*
the instigation *of friends, however, he afterwards drew up
a short supplement, in which he brought his history down
to 1621, when king Philip HI. died, and Philip IV. came
to the crown. . After his death, F. Ferdinand Gamargory
Salcedo, of the order of St, Augustin, carried on another
supplement from 1621, where Mariana left off, to 1649,
inclusive ; where F. Basil Voren de Soto, of the regular
clergy took it up, and went on to 1669, being the fifth
year of the reign of Charles II. king of Spain. Gibbon
says that' in this work he almost forgets that he is a Jesuit,
to assume the style and spirit of a Roman classic. It is a
work of great research and spirit, although not free from
the prejudices which may be supposed to arise from his
education and profession. The first edition was entitled
" Historic de rebus Hispaniee, lib. viginti," Toleti, I5$t,
310 MAR I A N A.
folio. To some copies were afterwards added five more
books, and a new title, with the date 1595, or in some
1592. The remaining five books were printed as " Historic
Hispanic® Appendix, libri scilicet XXI — XXX, cum in-
dice," Francfort, 1616, fol. There is an edition printed
at the Hague,' with the continuations, 1733, 4 vols, in 2,
fol. The best editions in the Spanish are, that of Madrid,
1780, 2 vols, folio, and that with Mariana's continuation,
ibid. 1794, 10'vols. 8vo. The French have various trans-
lations, and the English an indifferent one by capt. Ste-
vens, 1699, fol.
Mariana's history did not pass without animadversions in
his own time. A secretary of the constable of Castile,
who calls himself Pedro Mantuana, published " Critical
Remarks" upon it ats Milan, in 16 1 1, which were answered,
by Thomas Tamaius de Vorgas.' The latter informs us,
" that Mariana would never cast his eyes upon the work of
bis censurer, or on that of his apologist ; though this latter
offered him his manuscript before he gave it to the printer,
and desired him to correct it." -
Besides those already mentioned, he published several
other pieces in Latin, theological and historical ; among
the rest, one entitled " Notes upon the Old Testament ;"
which father Simon, in his " Critical History," says^
and Dupin agrees with him, are very useful for under-
standing the literal sense of the Scripture, because he
chiefly applies himself to find out the proper signification
of the Hebrew words. It is, however, as the historian of
Spain only that he now deserves to be remembered. He
^ied, at Toledo, in 1624, .aged eighty-seven. After his
(Jeath, was published in Italian, Latin, and French, another
treatise of his, wherein he discovers the faults in the go-
vernment of his society ; but the Jesuits have thrown doubts
on the authenticity of this work, which have not been alto-
gether removed.1.
, MARIN (Michael Angelo), a writer of several ro-
mances or novels much esteemed in France, was born at
Marseilles in 1697, bis family having been originally of
Genoa. He was early in orders, >and settled at Avignon,
where, as a minim, he was much employed in all the offices
pf his order, and preached against the Jews with no little
success. He published some works oc* pious discipline,
i Antonio Bibl. Hisp.— Gen. Diet.— Dupin.— Marchand Diet. Hist.-— B run et
Mamwl du Librajjo*
MA R I N. 311
which were much esteemed, and gained him the favour
of pope Clement XIII.. From this pontiff he received se-
veral marks of honour, and was employed by him to collect
the " Acts of the Martyrs." He had composed only two
volumes in 12mo of this work, when he was seized with a
dropsy in the heart, and died April 3, 1767, in his seven-
tieth year. He was much esteemed by all worthy men ;
and his novels, as well as his other writings, were calcu-
lated to serve the cause of virtue and religion. The prin-
cipal of his works are : 1. " Conduct of Sister Violet, who
died in odour of sanctity, at Avignon," I2mo: 2. "Ade-
laide de Vitzburg, or the pious pensioner/9 12mo. 3.
" The perfect Nun," 12mo. 4. "Virginia, or the Christ
tian Virgin," 2 vols. 12 mo. 5. " The Lives of the Soli-
taries of the East," 9 vols. 12mo. 6. " Baron Van- Hes-
den, or the Republic of Unbelievers," 5 vols. 12 mo. 7.
" Tbeodule, or the Child of Blessing," 16mo. 8, " Far-
fal la, or the converted Actress," 12mo. 9. " Retreat for
a Day in each Month," 2 vols. 12 mo. 10. " Spiritual
Letters," 1769, 2 vols. 12mo ; and a few more of less con*
sequence.1
MARINI (John Baptist), a pnce celebrated Italian,
poet, was born at Naples in 1569; and made so great a
progress in his juvenile studies, that he was thought quali-
fied for that of the civil law at thirteen. His father, who
was a lawyer, intended him for that profession, as the pro-
perest means of advancing him ; but Marin i had already
contracted a taste for poetry, and was so far from relishing
the science to which he was (tat, that he sold his law-books,
in order to purchase books of polite literature. This so
much irritated his father, that he turned him out of doors,
and obliged him to seek for protectors and supporters
abroad. Having acquired a reputation for poetry, he hap-
pily found in Inico de Guevara, duke of Bovino, a friend
who conceived an affection for him, and supported him
for three years in his house. The prince of Conca, grand
admiral of the kibgdom of Naples, next took him into
bis service, in quality of secretary; and in this situation
he continued five or six years ; but having assisted a friend
ip a very delicate intrigue, he was thrown into prison, and
very hardly escaped with his life. Thence he retired to
Rome, where, after some time spent in suspense and po-
verty, he became known to Melchipr Crescentio, a pre-*
* Diet Hist,
512 . M A R I N I.
late of great distinction, who patronized him, and pro-
vided him with every thing he wanted.
In 1601, he went to Venice, to print some poems which
be dedicated to Crescentio ; and after making the tour of
that part of Italy, returned to Rome. His reputation in*
creased greatly, so as to engage the attention of the car*
dinal Peter Aldobrandini, who made him his gentleman,
and settled on him a considerable pension. After the
election of pope Paul V. which was in 1605, he accom-
panied this cardinal to Ravenna, his archbishopric, and
lived with him several years. He then attended him to
Turin, at wtlich court he ingratiated himself by a panegyric
upon the duke Charles Emmanuel ; for which this prince
recompensed him with honours, and retained him, when
bis patron the cardinal left Piedmont. During his resi-
dence here he had a violent dispute, both poetical and
personal, with Gasper Murtola,' the duke's secretary.
Murtola was, or fancied himself* as good a poet as Marini,
and was jealous of Marini's h^igh favour with the duke, and
therefore took every opportunity toispeak ill of him. Ma*
rini, by way of revenge, published a sharp sonnet upon
him at Venice, in 1608, under the title of " II nuovo
mondo;" to which Murtola opposed a satire, containing
an abridged life of Marini. Marini answered in eighty-one
sonnets, named the " Murtoleide :" to which Murtola re-
plied in a " Marineide," consisting of thirty sonnets.
But the latter, perceiving that his poems were inferior in
force as well as number to those of his adversary, resolved
to put an end to the quarrel, by destroying him ; and ac-
cordingly fired a pistol, the ball of which luckily missed
him. Murtola was cast into prison, but saved from punish-
ment at the intercession of Marini, who, nevertheless, soon
found it expedient to quit his- present station.
He went afterwards to France, where be found a pa-
troness in Mary de Medicis^ who settled a handsome pen-
sion upon him. ' In 1'62 1 he sent a nephew whom be had
with him at Paris,' to Rome, about business, and conveyed by
him h& compliments to cardinal Louis Ludovisio, nephew to
Gregory XV: then the reigning pope; which compliments
were so well received by the cardinal, tfiat he wrote to
him immediately to return to Rome. Marini complied,
and quitted France about the end of 1622 ; and on bis
arrival at Rome, was made president of the academy of
the Umoristi. Upon the advancement of Urban VIII. td
M A R I N I. 313
the pontificate, in 1623, be went to Naples, and was
chosen president of one of the academies in that city, but
soon after conceived an inclination to return to Rome,
which he was about to indulge,' when he was seized with a
oomplaint which carried him off, in 1625.
Marini had a very lively imagination, but little judgment,
and abandoned himself to the way of writing fashionable
in those times, which consisted in points and conceits ; so
that he may be justly reckoned among the corrupters of
taste in Italy, a& his name and fame, which were very con-
siderable, produced a number of imitators. His works are
numerous, and have been often printed. The principal
of them are, 1. " Strage degli Innocenti," a poem on the
slaughter of the Innocents, Venice, 1633. 2. "Rime,**
or miscellaneous poems, in three parts. 3. " La Sam-
pogna," or the flageolet ; 1620. 4. " La Murtoleide,"
1626,. 4to, the occasion of which has been already no-
ticed. 5. « Letters," 1627, 8vo. 6. " Adone ;" an he-
roic poem. This was one of the most popular poems in
the Italian language, little less so than the Aminta of
Tasso, and the Pastor Fido of Guarini ; and, says Baretti,
w would cope with any one in our Italian, if Marini had
not run away with his overflowing imagination, and if his
language was more correct." It has been frequently printed
in Italy, France, and other parts of Europe. >:One of th«
most valued editions is the Elzevir, printed' at' Amsterdam,
in 1678, in 4 vols. 16mo.!
MARIOTTE (Edmund), an eminent French philoso-
pher and mathematician, was born at Dijon, and admitted
a member of the academy of sciences of Paris in 1666. His
works, however, are better known than his life. He was
a good mathematician, and the first French philosopher
who applied much to experimental physics. The law of
the- shock or collision of bodies, the theory of the pressure
and motion of fluid s, the nature of vision, and of the air,
particularly engaged bis attention. He carried into his
philosophical researches that spirit of scrutiny and investi-
gation so necessary to those who would make any consi-
derable progress in it. He died May 12, 1684t He com-
municated a number of curious and valuable papers to the
academy of sciences, which were printed in the collection
of their Memoirs dated 1666, viz. from volume 1 to volume
1 Njc«rOD, vol.XXXII.— Tiraboschi.*— Moreri. ,
314 M A R I O T T E.
10. And all bis works were collected into 2 volumes in
4to, and printed at Leyden in 1717. 1
MARIVAUX (Peter Carlet de Chamblaw de), a ce-
lebrated French writer of the drama and of romance, was
born at Paris in 1688. His father was of a good family in
Normandy ; his fortune was considerable, and he spared
nothing in the education of his son, who discovered un-
common talents, and a most amiable disposition. His first
object was the theatre, where he met with the highest
success in comic productions; and these, with the merit of
his other works, procured him a place in the French aca-
demy. The great object of both his comedies and ro-
mances was, to convey an useful moral under the veil of
wit and sentiment : " my only object," says he, " is to
make men more just and more humane;" and he was as
amiable in his life and conversation as in bis writings.
He was compassionate and humane, and a strenuous ad-
vocate for morality and religion. To relieve the indigent,
to console the unfortunate, and to succour the oppressed^
were duties which he not only recommeuded by his writ-
ings, but by his own practice and example. He would
frequently ridicule the excessive credulity of infidels iiv
matters of trivial importance ; and once said to lord Bo*
lingbroke, who was of that character, " If you cannot be-
lieve, it is not for want of faith."
Marivaux had the misfortune, or rather the imprudence,
to join the party of M. de la Motte, in the famous dispute
concerning the superiority of the ancients to the moderns.
His attachment to the latter produced bis travesty of Ho-
mer, which contributed but little to his literary fame. His
prose works, while they display great fertility of invention,
and a happy disposition of incidents to excite attention,
and to interest the affections, have been censured for af-
fectation of style, and a refinement that is sometimes too
metaphysical. His " Vie de Marianne," and his " Paysaa
Parvenu," hold the first rank among French romances;
yet, by a fickleness which was natural to him, he left one
of them incomplete to begin the other, and finished neither.
He died at Paris, Feb. 11, 17C3, aged seventy-five. His
works consist of, 1. " Pieces de Theatre," 5 vols. 12 mo.
2. " Homere travesti," 12mo. 3. " Le Spectateur Fran§ois,"
2 vols. 12mo ; rather affected in style, but containing many
* Eloge des Acafaimcien?, vol. !. — Diet. Hist.— Hutton's Dictionary.
M A R I V A. U X. 315
fine .thoughts. 4. "Le Philosophe indigent/' l2mo, lively
and instructive. 5. " Vie 4de Marianne/' 4 vols. 12 mo;
one of the best. romances in the French language. 6. " Le
Paysan Parvenu," 1 2 mo; more ingenious, perhaps, than
Marianne, but less instructive, and. containing some scenes
that ought to have, been omitted. 7. " Pharsamon ; ou
les nouvelles follies romanesques ;" inferior to the former.
This was republished under the name of " Nouveau Dom
Quicbotte." The chief objection made to this, and in-
deed many .other writings of Marivaux, is a mixture of me-
taphysical style, sometimes too refined to be intelligible;
but amends are generally made for this fault, by correct
pictures of the human heart, and sentiments of great truth
and beauty. ' „
MARK, or MARCUS, the founder of the sect of the
Marcosians, is said to have, appeared about the year 160,
or, according to some, about the year 127. Many learned
moderns are of opinion that Mark belonged to the Valen-
tinian school, but Rh en ford and Beausobre say that the
^Marcosians were Jews, or judaizing Christians; andGrabe *
likewise owns that. they were of Jewish extract. Irenaeus
leads us to imagine that Mark, who was an Asiatic, had
come into Gaul and made many converts there. Never-
theless, learned moderns think that they were only dis-
ciples of Mark, who came into that country, where Irenaeus
resided, of whom, in one place, he makes particular men-
tion.. Irenaeus represents him as exceedingly skilful in all
magical arts, . by means of which he had great success*
Tertullian and Theodoret concur in calling Mark a magi-
cian. Irenaeus, after giving an account of the magical arts .
of Mark, adds, that he had, probably, an assisting daemon,
by which he himself appears .to prophesy, and which en-
abled others, especially women, to prophesy likewise : this
practice favoured his seduction of many, females, both in
body and mind, which gained him much wealth. . He is
also said to have made use of philters and love-potions, in
order to gain the affections of women ; and his disciples
are charged with doing the same. Dr. Lardner suggests
some doubts as to the justice of these accusations ; and
jndeed there is considerable obscurity in every particular
of his personal history. His followers, called Marcosians,
* D'Alembert'j Eloges. — Necrologie. — L'Esprit dc Marivaux, 17(59, 8vo.— -
Diet. Hist
W6 MAR K,
are said to have placed a great deal of mystery in the
letters of the alphabet, and thought that they were very
useful in trading out the truth. They are charged un-
justly with holding two principles, and as if they were
Doceta&y and denied the resurrection of the dead; for
which there w no sufficient evidence. They persisted in the
practice of baptism and the eucharist. As to their opinion
concerning Jestts Christ, they seem to have had a notion
of the great dignity and excellence of his person, or bis
ineffable generation : and, according to them, he was born
of Mary, • a virgin, and the word was in him. When be
tame to the water, the supreme power descended upon
him; and. .he had in him all fulness; for in him was the
word, the father, truth, the church, and life. They said
that the Christ, or the Spirit, came down Upon the man
Jesus. He made known the Father, and destroyed death,
and called himself the Son of Man; for it was the good
pleasure of the Father of all that he should banish igno-
rance and destroy death : and the acknowledgment of him
is the overthrow of ignorance. From the account of Ire*
naerus, we may infer that the Marcosians believed, the facts
recorded in the gospels ; and that they received most, or
all the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. Irenseus
also says that they had an innumerable multitude of apo-
cryphal and spurious writings, which they had forged : and
that they made use of that fiction concerning the child
Jesus, that when his master bade him say, alpha, the Lord
did so ; but when the master called him to say beta, he
answered, " Do you first tell me what is alpha, and then
I will tell you what beta is/9 As this story concerning
alpha and beta is found in the gospel of the infancy of Jesus
Christ, still in being, some are of opinion that this gospel
was! composed by the Marcosians. l
MARKHAM (Gervase), an English author, who lived
in the reigns of James I. and Charles I. but whose private
history is involved in much obscurity, was son of Robert
Markham, esq. of Gotham, in the county of Nottingham.
He bore a captain's commission under Charles I. in the
civil wars, and was accounted a good soldier, as well as a
good scholar. One piece of dramatic poetry which he has
published will shew, says Langbaine, that he sacrificed to
Apollo and the muses, as well as to Mars and Pallas. This
> Lardner't Worlw.— Rees't Cyclopaedia* .
M A R K H A M, 317
play is extant under under the title of " Herod and Anti*
pat£r," a tragedy, printed in 1622. Markham published
a great many volumes upon husbandry and horsemanship ;
one upon the latter, printed in qttarto, without date* he
dedicated to prince Henry, eldest son to James I, In
husbandry be published " Liebault's La Maison rustique,
or the country- farm," in 1616. This treatise, which was
at first translated by Mr. Richard Surfleit, a physician*
Markham, enlarged, with several additions from the French
books of Serris and Vinet, the Spanish of Albiterio, and
the Italian of Grilli. He published other books of Jams-*
baodry, particularly " The English Husbandman, in two
parts," Lond, 16 13-— 1635, with the " Pleasures of Princes
in the Art of Angling." Granger mentions " The whole
Art of Angling," 1656, 4to, in which he says Markham,
very gravely tells us that ao angler should " be a general
scholar, and seen in all the liberal sciences ; as a grant*
marian, to know how to write or discourse of bis art in
true ^ and fitting tern)s. He should have sweetness in. speech
to entice others to delight in an exercise so muqh laudable.
fie should have strength of argument to defend and main-
tain his profession against envy and slauder," &c, Markhacq
also wrote a tract entitled " Hunger's prevention^, or the
whole Art of Fowling*'' 162 1, 8vo* In military discipline
he published " The Soldier's- Accidence and Grammar," m
1635. But he appears to have been earliest distinguished
by bis talents for poetry. In 1597 be published " De-
vereti? Yertues tears fort^e loss of the most .Ghristiaa
king Henry, third of that name king of France, and. the
untimely death of the most ivafele and heroical